RvB: The Damian Stark Chronicles
by Anonymous Fanz
Summary: A team sent to find Virge retraces the steps of the Red, Blues, Freelancers, and the armies of Chorus in the war against Charon. Damian Stark, the brother of one of the members of the team, tries to maintain the fragile alliance between the armies, while the reactivation of the long dormant alien technology begins to turn the tides of the war. Sequel to The Derek The Red Chronicles
1. Welcome to Chorus

**In this particular story, we'll both be seeing season 13, and the hunters of my other fanfic learning what happened there**. **There's an almost four year gap between the hunt and season 12. This story is going to close that gap. I highly recommend reading my other RvB works before this one, or you will have no idea who my characters are.**

 **I don't own anything except the first two segments, Agent's Virge, West, North Carolina (sorta), Kentucky (Derek), Utah (sorta), Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado. I also own Damian Stark, Daniel, the Director of Freelancer II, project Freelancer II, and Derek's moonbase. Anonymous Fanz2 owns agent Mass.**

 **...**

Derek's POV

"Attention true believers! And other people. This is Agent Virginia Project Freelancer. Some of you know me as Derek the Red. Some of you are loyal fans. Some of you don't believe I exist. And some of you hate me. Which is understandable considering what I've done. And what I'm about to do." Virge blew up the moon of Chorus. Most likely to destroy the moon base Charon had there. Which sucks because it was mine! "I just blew up a moon. This is an example of the power of my most dangerous weapon. The HMROV. Or Hammer of Virge, as I call it. I just regained control of it and tested if it still works. And I am just getting started." Virge prepared his ship to leave Chorus's orbit. "Any interference with my attempt to leave Chorus will result in it's destruction. Have a nice day!" Virge ended his broadcast. This was sent an hour after he froze me. Three years ago.

...

Planet Chorus

"I should warn you; The people on this planet don't like you very much." Colorado said. I already knew that. It's mostly Virge's fault. He made them hate me for all the wrong reasons.

"The feeling's mutual." I replied. They still have plenty of reasons they should hate me.

"What could you do that would piss off the entire?" Utah asked.

"I worked for someone that was trying to make them kill themselves." I answered. Malcolm Hargrove. Our other enemy. Currently, he's in hiding.

"Then you should probably stay on the ship with Mex." Arizona said. Mex looked to me, then to Arizona. "Me, Utah, and Col are going to see what the locals know."

...

Agent West's POV

"Alright, explain to me again, why do you need a .50 caliber chaingun?" Simmons asked.

"Because I'm a gunman." One of the feds was refusing to give us his chaingun.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I get that. You keep saying that. I mean, why do you need it right now?"

"Hey G-man, hurry up!" One of the rebels shouted. There was a whole line of soldiers waiting.

"Well, I mean, how else are people gonna know what I do around here?" The "G-man" asked.

"You're soldier. You fight or you die, just like everyone else here." I said. Except of course for the captains and other higher-ups. They lead them into the fight and make hard choices so they can keep everyone else alive.

"Yeah, but that's what I'm sayin'. Without my big gun, I just look like all the regular soldiers." The gunman explained. That's basically what I just said. He is a regular soldier.

"No you don't! You've got white armor and red stripes!" Simmons yelled.

"Ugh, and they're just awful. I'm thinking we go bold. Maybe red armor with white stripes!" A wild Donut appears!

"Huh?" _That guy shows up exactly when he's needed in a conversation. Kinda like Tucker._

"Donut, just becuase you're in charge of uniforms, doesn't mean you get to redecorate the entire army." Simmons said. "Besides, that'll completely ruin his camouflage."

"Camouflage? Look at him! He's white!" I shouted. _And extremely shiny._

"What?" The gunman asked.

"Huh. Good point. How the hell have you not been shot yet?" Simmons asked. Glad Simmons sees what I'm talking about.

"Wait, what!" A few Feds on the line exclaimed. They're either to distracted by how racist that sounded to see the truth, or just don't want to accept it.

"It's because the New Repubic can't aim for shit!" One Fed shouted.

"Wanna say that to my face, punk?" One of the rebels asked. As much as I want to see them fight, we can't have that.

"Hey! No fighting in the armory!" I warned.

"Yeah! The armory is no place for violence! Now calm down, or I'm not gonna to give you a gun." Simmons added. At this point, we only let everyone walk around armed so they don't feel like they could be betrayed at any second. It makes them feel like if they were to be betrayed, they could defend themselves. _Alternatively, the knowledge that the others can also defend themselves dissuades anyone from trying to stab any backs._

"Outta my way. Captain on deck. Official officer business." A wild Grif appears. I've been wondering where he's been.

"Grif, what do you want? Can't you see we're busy?" Simmons asked.

"Where's Kimball?" Grif asked, ignoring Simmons questions.

"I don't know. Where were you during training this morning?"

"Where do you guys train again?"

"The training room." I answered.

"Oh, right, yeah. Literally anywhere but there." Well, no shit!

"Well I think I heard Miss Kimball was inspecting the troops over there a little while ago." Donut said. I almost forgot he was here.

I'm "Aw man. Really?" Grif asked. Suddenly, a wild Lopez appeared. He began ranting in spanish for half a minute.

"Lopez. I don't speak Spanish. I have never spoken Spanish." Grif said.

"Yeah, get with the times and just assimilate." Simmons added. I don't understand why Lopez understands what we say to him in english, but can only speak spanish. Dos point O replied in spanished.

"English motherfucker! Do you speak it!" I grabbed the robot and raised him up into the air.

"See ya' dickheads." Normally, I'd shoot at Grif, but instead I'm going to keep interrogating our robot friend. _Yeah, I don't think he can speak english._ Rho, I'm just making sure he isn't exploiting our inability to understand him.

...

Agent Mass's POV

"Lieutenant Palomo!" Wash shouted.

"Yes, Agent Washington, sir." Palomo responded.

"Explain to me how, in light of your recent promotion, you somehow managed to be worst at target practice." Typically, a promotion would leave someone like him a boost in confidence, improving his poor skills.

"Uh, because the newly-added pressure of my rank makes me second-guess my actions more frequently in hopes I won't let down my fellow peers." He quickly explianed.

"Well I don't—Oh. Um, I mean, that's understandable, Lieutenant." _Wash sounds like he's about to forgive him._

"He spent nine minutes making a smiley face." I explained. Wash turned around and looked at it.

"Nailed it." Palomo is proud of his work of art. To bad he doesn't have a career as an artist right now. _Wash looks pissed off._

"Mass!" And Grif's here now.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Where's Kimball?" He asked. Very loudly.

"Oh! Captain Grif. How nice of you to join us. We missed you at practice this morning." Wash said sarcastically, as he noticed the presence of the captain.

Grif laughed. "Yeah. That's probably because I wasn't there." He admitted.

"So you weren't. Which is why everyone is going to give me three laps around the training facility." Wash announced.

"Aww!"

What the?!"

"That's not fair!"

"Yes, sir!" The lieutenant's were not happy. Except AnderSmith. He didn't seem to mind. _Weird._

"Better get going!" I warned.

"You're punishing them?!" Grif asked, suprised and confused.

"Remedial training. Disciplining a group for the actions of a single soldier leads to social pressures which typically results in the easy correction of an undesirable behavior. Classic military strategy." Wash said. _Apparently Virge described it as the greatest method of training an army ever created because of it's simplicity and effectivity._

"Thanks a lot, fuckface!" Bitters yelled.

"So. Are you ready to begin today's training?" Wash asked.

"Uh, no?" Grif anwered.

"All right then. Let's make that four laps."

"Yes, sir!" AnderSmith yelled, as his fellow lieutenants groaned.

"Sir, I have an asthma attack!" Jensen yelled.

"Walk it off!" I yelled. _I'm pretty sure her helmet is one of the older models; It doesn't come with any equipment to help her inability to breathe._

"How're you feeling now?" Wash asked.

"I feel like this military's fucking weird." Grif answered.

"FIVE LAPS!" Wash shouted.

"Yes, sir!" The exact same response to the previous extra lap was made. Except instead of Jensen yelling about an asthma attack, she started choking on something. _Could be her own spit. Or the asthma._

"Man! This is the best punishment ever!" Grif exclaimed. _Of all time._

"What do you need Kimball for, anyways? She's in the middle of a meeting with Doyle."

"So, she's in the war room?"

"Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait! No! You're not going anywhere until—"

"Sorry dude, gotta go, uh, just punish them a little more. I'm sure I'll learn my lesson." Grif left.

"ONE HUNDRED LAPS!" I announced!

"Yes, sir!"

"Oh, come on!" Bitter yelled. Palomo collapsed, and Jensen stopped running, barely able to catch her breath.

"No one leaves this room until they do their hundred!" I ordered.

"Yes, sir!"

"I think the blue one is an ONI agent." PSI said.

"Wait, what?" Wash asked. Yeah, that was pretty random.

...

Damian Stark's POV

"I don't care if your men prefer it, the fact to the matter is we are going to run out of ammunition faster." Kimball was arguing why we should switch to using DMRs.

"Don't forget to take the statistical advantage into account! Yes, the standard issue Assault Rifle has a firing range of fifteen rounds per second, but if those rounds aren't being fired at the enemy, then that means we have fifteen chances to kill the enemy, every time we pull the trigger!" Doyle was arguing why we should switch to using assualt rifles.

"What if we just switched to that gun Wash uses. The battle rifle. It uses three shot bursts. It has the advantages of both." I said.

"Yes, but we only have a few of them. It's one of the newer weapons we only recieved from the mercenaries." Doyle explained.

"And without them bringing in supplies, we need to make every bullet count." Kimball warned.

"Well it's not like the ammo's universal. They can use whatever gun they want, as long as they don't waste ammo on stuff they don't need. Like Palomo's dumb smiley faces." I decided. Giving third opinions is easy, but as the case with this time, it generally doesn't change anything. It's simple, but unprogressive. If the two armies could integrate or something, this would be easier.

"Hey! We got a problem!" Oh great. Grif is here.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Now, I'm what most people consider a hero, like a firefighter, or the guy who invented the microwave, or, uh, the Oreo dude." Grif said.

"Yeah."

"So what I want to know, is why a hero, such as myself, is not allowed to have second helpings in the mess hall?!" Grif asked.

"Umm... It's because we're low on food." Doyle admitted.

"So you have the common sense to ration our meals, but not our ammo?" Kimball asked.

"Not the same thing. Without food, we die. Without ammo, we can't shoot back, but there are ways around that." I explained.

"Do you honestly think we can win this war without any ammo?!" Kimball yelled.

"HEY!" Grif shouted. "I know you guys are having a hard time playing nice, but there are bigger things at stake right now."

"Get out."

"Like steak, for instance."

"get! Out!"

"We need bigger ones."

"Grif, please leave before we make steaks out of you." I warned.

"Uh, Isn't that cannibalism?" Grif asked.

"You have ten seconds to comply."

"Wait, what?"

"Nine!"

"Ok, I'm leaving." He walked out. "This is bullshit."

"Can we just talk about something else for a minute?" Kimball asked.

"Oh right!" I almost forgot. "Our men reported back from the assualt." I came here to tell them this, and almost forgot because I got dragged into the argument.

...

North Carolina's POV

"What?"

"Another one bites the dust! Oh yeah! Another one gone, another one gone, another one bites the dust! Ugh! Yeah! Ooh! We. Kicked. Your. Ass. Bitch!" Tucker and Sarge are taunting our captured and/our dead enemies. About half of them were scientists, so they didn't really stand much of a chance.

"Get down with your bad self!" Of course, I don't care much for them either way.

"Alright, that's enough. We just took their base. No need for cruel and unusual punishments." My sister said.

"Are you sure? I could drop some sick beats on them. Y'know, bust some rhymes, make it old-school." Sarge said.

"Oh for god's sake, Please don't." I don't want to see what his idea of old school is. I already know Virge is obsessed with the 21st century, Tucker was just singing music from then, and Simmons listens to music from before then.

"Can you stop doing that?" Church asked. I must have done the thing where we say the exact same thing at the same time by accident and not notice again. It's mainly with stuff like that where we usually are just thinking it, and just say it hoping someone listens. At least that's what I'm always doing when it happens.

"Sorry."

"Come on. Let's get this place sorted out. Intel says they were keeping some Freelancer equipment here." Carolina ordered. Back to business.

"Right. Sarge, why don't you go check on the Feds. Tucker, you down to handle the Rebels?"

"I'll go see what the captured have to say." I added. I'm willing to bet one of them knows something. I walked over to them. "I understand that you're probably confused right now, but I want to know what you were working on.

"We were ordered not to tell you anything." One of them said.

"Dude, you just told him something." Another said. So I'm guessing these aren't their brightest men.

"Oh, I totally understand. Last time we interrogated someone, he apparently got disintegrated by one of your snipers." I said.

"Wait, what?"

"Oh yeah. They were ordered to kill him on sight. Even though he was trained to resist torture. And they never knew if he told them anything or not. And to top it all off, they just gave away all the intel he might have told us anyway, so his death was meaningless." I knew about the orders, because I watched Derek recieve them before the attack. "You guys are practically dead men already."

"Oh god!" One of the yelled.

"But if you were to talk, we'd be allowed to take you to the safety of the Capital as prisoners so we can extract more information from you." I might throw it up for consideration, but I'm not taking the idea seriously.

"We were recreating the dome-shield unit. We haven't finished it, but we have the one we were given to study." One of their men nicely decided to tell me everything. His safety has been confirmed. Maybe. I won't guarantee anyone else though.

"Show me." I ordered, lifting him to his feet.


	2. I know a guy

**Me: The story continues. I'm going to try to make these daily.**

 **North Carolina: And I'm back here again. Anonymous Fanz doesn't own anything except the OCs.**

 **...**

Arizona's POV

We had to walk around for hours before meeting our contact on this planet in some backalley. It's a good thing we don't have our armor right now, or we'd look really suspicious. We left those on the ship. Still, I hate walking around in street clothes with no weapons. I feel like I could be attacked at any minute, completely offguard and unprepared. "I was told you'd be arriving." The contact said, as he walked towards us. It doesn't look like he's armed, unless he has well hidden weapons.

"Who are you?" Colorado asked.

"I am an old friend of the person who sent you." He answered. "You were sent here to find out about Virge?"

"Specifically, to learn happened to him during the war with Charon." I said.

"Unfortunately, he vanishes so often some believe he never came here." The man said. "But there is someone I know that could tell you what you want to know."

"Where is he?" Utah asked.

"Regretably, I lost contact with him a while ago. But, I know someone who can find him." It's all bad news, good news with this guy.

...

North Carolina's POV

I can't believe it. The domed shield. How the hell did that get here? It was probably on the ship. "So that's it?" I asked. The scrientist grabbed the shield and started running. I fired at him, but he activated the shield. However, since it wasn't connected to his armor, it ended up propelling him into my bullets instead of protecting him from them. Ironic. Now I understand how this thing almost killed Utah. Just turning it on is dangerous. But now I also know he probably also didn't tell me things, which is making me feel bad about killing the others we kidnapped. I should go tell my sister about this.

...

"I found the domed shield unit." I said.

"The bubble shield? Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yep. So was the Charon scientist that accidentally killed himself with it."

"That's great. We can hook it up and start running some tests in a few hours."

"Hey, whoawhoawhoa, slow down. What about the giant floating tower in the sky? Did you forget about that crazy bullshit?" Epsilon asked. I looked at it. Yeah, that looks like it might be important if Charon actually could use it. But they can't.

"What, the temple?" We all looked to one of the Chorus army guys. The white, shiny ones. "That the aliens made?"

"You've seen it before?" I asked.

"I-I mean I think most of us have, yeah." He answered. What?!

"Alright, I'm gonna stop you right there. You're telling me that people on this planet are just used to seeing flying space shit like that?" Church asked.

"Pretty much." The guy replied. "Hey Randy! You 'ever seen one of those alien towers before?"

"Oh yeah! My dad took me to one when I was a kid!"

"They're nice, right?"

"Oh yeah! They had funnel cake outside, too!"

"Oh, I remember that!" His friend walked away. "So yeah, I mean, pretty common."

"How is this not a bigger deal?" Church asked.

"Well, come on, man. I mean, they've been around forever and they don't really do anything—"

"IT'S A GIANT FLYING TOWER!"

"And you're a dead guy that's also somehow an AI, okay? That shit's weird too, but you don't hear me going on about it."

"Enough. Just secure the Freelancer equipment. Epsilon and I will be by in a few minutes." My sister ordered.

"Yes, Maam." The guy left.

You "But I don't care what these guys say, those towers aren't some fucking tourist trap." Church said.

"Actually, they are." I corrected.

"Not the point! They're important." Church said. "Remember the tractor beams? At Crash hSite Alpha? Charon is studying these things and making them do shit. That's bad."

"We get it. So, who would you say is our resident expert on alien technology?" Carolina asked. Oh god no.

...

"Conducting research in the field! Oh, I knew today was gonna be a good day!" Dr. Grey is excited, as usual.

"Hello, Dr. Grey." The three of us said.

"Oh, I can't tell you how nice it is to get out of the office and away from all the complaining! 'My leg hurts!' 'I need blood!' 'But I don't want to have a robot arm!'" I am so glad. If I had to listen to her talk about how nice it is, I'd have to shoot myself.

"Right. Well, the reason we called you here is—"

"To investigate the alien temple Charon's been studying, yes dear, you told me on the radio. Not surprising, really; emerged from the ground shortly after UNSC pulled out, never did anything, sadly but that doesn't mean that they won't! Thankfully, I spent time brushing up on their history in between college internships. Aren't you so happy we're such close friends?" She spoke so fast, ,y sister might have forgotten she was just interrupted.

"I am...so thankful." I can't really tell.

"Oh great, the mad scientist finally showed up." Tucker and Sarge just showed up.

"Hey, what's the status on that robot arm I ordered?" Sarge asked.

"Still in the trial stages, Colonel! Volunteers are proving hard to come by." Oh yeah, he was promoted.

"Well that's ridiculous." Colonel repied.

"Yeah, robot parts just... aren't really all they're cracked up to be. Trust me." Church said. He had like three different robot bodies, so he would know.

"Why don't you go take a look at Charon's research? Epsilon and I have a few armor upgrades to take care of." So she's leaving me with them.

"Don't mind if I do!" Suddenly, Grif and Simmons Teleported here with the "future cubes".

"Gah! I hate that!" Grif complained.

"At least you don't get headaches." Simmons added. This is why teleporting is best left to people with AIs. Really wish I had one.

"Grif! Simmons! You're late!" Colonel yelled.

"You were saying?" Grif asked.

"What took you guys? It's instant teleportation." Tucker asked. Now that you mention it, they should have gotten here at te same time as Dr. Grey. What the fuck happened?

"Well, we had to make sure West, Lopez and Donut could handle things while we were gone." Simmons said. Oh.

"You hand out weapons and ammo, how hard can it be?" Tucker asked. They left a crazy person, a spanish robot, and Donut at the armory. I can only imagine what's going on there right now.

...

West's POV

Dos Point O greeted the first person to walk up to us when we opened.

"Lopez says you're two days late on your weapon rental!" Donut translated. Lopez turned to Donut and said something. "Whoa, no need to call the man a turkey baster, Lopez! Everyone makes mistakes." Donuts answered. "Forgive him, it's his fiery Latin temper."

"That's racist." I said.

"Your racist!" A fed yelled. I shot him in the foot. "Ow!"

"Want to say that again!" I yelled. _Well, so much for no violence in the armory._

 _..._

North Carolina's POV

"It's probably hell in there right now." I said. West probably shot Donut by now.

"So, you got the goods?" Grif asked.

"Damn right." I pointed to everything else this place had to offer. Alien guns.

"Weapons! Ammo! Laser beams! You name it! It's Christmas come early! Unless you're looking at it from the pirates' point of view, in which case, it's kinda the opposite." Sarge announced.

"So it's basically Independence Day in Britain." I said.

"Exactly!" Sarge answered.

"Excellent work, sir. Another enemy outpost taken down. I just wish I could've been there to see you on the battlefield." Simmons said.

"Why don't you guys come with us on the next mission?" Tucker suggested.

"Whoahohokay, let's not get ahead of ourselves here." Simmons is kissing ass, and avoiding work. I didn't think that middle ground could exist.

"Better start packing this stuff up." Grif threw a cube at the pile, teleporting it. "Well, that's enough back-butreaking labor for one day."

Someone started using the PA system. "EUREKA!" OW, MY MOTHERFUCKING EARS! "I made a discovery!"

"Damn. And I thought I was fast." Tucker said.b

"That's what she said." I quickly added.

"Wait, what? Fuck!" Tucker realized what happened.

"Ma'am, g-give me back the microphone!" Someone if trying to kick her off. Something crashed.

"All Freelancer-related people, get your butts in here!"

I'm "Ma'am! Please, calm down!" Thank god.

"You have no appreciation for modern science!" The two continued struggling. Whoever he is, he's a hero.

...

"That was fast." My sister met us as we got to Grey.

"Look, it's completely normal, okay." Tucker said.

"Wait, what?" Epsilon asked.

"QUIET!" And Dr. Grey is still here. Dammit. "Thank you. Now, say what you want about our enemies—"

"They suck."

"They're dirtbags."

"Total dicks."

"Yeah, not an invitation to talk, guys." Epsilon said. You

"But you can't discount their ambition. Or intelligence, for that matter." Grey said. From what I've seen, their intelligence is pretty discountable. It wouldn't suprise me if Virge was responsible for they're every success. You

"There's a reason Chairman Hargrove got to where he is now." My sister added. It's because he's a VERY good businessman. And has friends in very high places.

"This compound isn't one of Charon's typical munitions factories or radio jammers. They're not disassembling alien artifacts here, they're trying to turn them back on. And that tower you saw seems to be their primary target."

"Ohh, see, who called that? Me!" Epsilon yelled.

"What's the tower have to do with the weapons?" I asked.

You "That's exactly what I intend to find out! Now, who's down for a field trip?" God damn it, Grey.

"Uhh, what?" Tucker asked.

"Well, if I'm going to take a look at this tower, I'll require an escort." Grey explained. How about you, Simmons, you've always seemed intelligent."

"Oh! Thank you!"

"Well, compared to your friends."

"Wh-why did you feel the need to add that?"

"No way! This shit's got Blue Team Problems written all over it." Grif said.

"Aw, C'mon, man!" Tucker begged.

"Hey, you're the one that grabs swords and fucks aliens, alright? So don't come crying to me."

"You do have the most expeirence with aliens, Tucker." I added.

"Dude!"

"Epsilon and I should stay behind in case Charon launches a counterattack." Wait, she's leaving me with them again!

"Yeah, and I can try to get through some of this data while you're out." Episilon added.

"Well, don't you worry about it, little lady, me and Aquaman over here can handle whatever diabolical schemes those no-good space pirates may be preparing for us this very moment." Sarge assured.

"As much as I want to leave you two alone, I don't exactly trust Colonel to not try and kill you." I said. "And if there are any pirates, a freelancer would be very useful."

"Actually, you'll mainly just be carrying my survey equipment to the site." Grey explained.

"Ah. Right! Then we'll... carry... that stuff. we'll carry the shit outta that stuff." Sarge said.

"Fine, let's just get this over with."

"Actually, a four-man team would be ideal. You wouldn't happen to know of anyone else you could spare to help us, would you?"

Church teleported next to Tucker. "Oh, I can think of someone."

"Please don't." Tucker said. Oh, It's Caboose. Because if we didn't bring him, it wouldn't be Blue team.


	3. The great journey begins

Me: Here's another chapter. The story is about to escalate for both perspectives.

West Virginia: Anonymous Fanz doesn't own anything except for, Me, my cousin, North Carolina, The new project Freelancer, The Starks, and whoever the fuck Daniel is.

...

Colorado's POV

Apparently we had to go to crash site bravo to find this guy that knows about what Virge was doing here. Since we don't know who's there, we have to put our armor back on. Well, being out of the thing was fun while it lasted. It was nice to be able to relax for a few minutes. We found the crashed ship Virge came to this planet on. At least, the time right before the one we're interested in. "Alright. Me and Colorado are going to check out Blue base. Ken, go with Utah to Red base. Mex, check the radio tower." Arizona ordered.

We walked into Blue base. The place didn't have much left here. I looked at a tattered chart. Looks like the Blue team had a stricter leadership than we did. They probably had a Freelancer in charge. I walked over to some computer screen. It was apparently being used to record stuff that happened. Mostly it just mentions plants. "I think I found something." Arizona walked over here. "Someones been keeping records on this computer. Which means someones been here for a while." I explained.

"Everyone, report." Arizona ordered. No one answered. A red laser suddenly moved across the room. We looked to the source: Mex. The laser moved towards Red base. Oh. We quickly ran over to the other base. Utah got knocked the fuck out, and Derek was nowhere to be found.

"Utah? You in there?" I asked, as I shook him awake.

"What hit me?" He asked.

"No idea. Derek probably went after it." I answered.

"Derek? Do you read?" Arizona radioed.

"Everyone put their guns on the floor, or the sniper dies!" Someone was yelling at us from the radiotower. Since they had Mex in the way as a human shield, I couldn't see who. Where the fuck is Derek?

...

North Carolina's POV

"Looks deserted." I said.

"I've heard that one before." Tucker replied.

"It's likely any remaining Charon personnel would've retreated after you took their research complex. Or maybe they're at lunch." Dr. Grey noted. "I'm hungry."

"It could be they don't know we're here." I added.

"Well, how do we know for sure?" Tucker asked.

"IS ANYBODY STILL HERE?!" Caboose yelled.

"Caboose!" Everyone else yelled.

"WHAT? OH, SORRY!" Caboose apologized. "Um, sorry." He repeated.

"Well, now they definitely know we're here." I said.

"IF YOU'RE STILL HERE, JUST IGNORE THAT LAST BIT!" Sarge yelled.

"Good save, Sarge." Tucker added sarcastically.

"Caboose, if you could, please, have Freckles run a thermal scan of the area." Grey requested.

"Ah, yes. Um, hey, Freckles?" Caboose is talking to his gun.

"Yes, Captain Caboose." Oh right, it talks now. I keep forgetting that. Mainly because the voice creeps me out.

"Oh, yes, uh, Freckles, could you go ahead and give me a... thermal... sweater to the base... thing." God damn it, Caboose.

"Affirmative."

"Heat scanners and Google Translate. Nice." Tucker said. Now we finally have a translater for Caboose.

"If you put the brain of a killing machine into an assault rifle, you don't cut corners" Dr. Grey replied.

"Can you give it control over the safety?" Sarge asked. Whats the point in that?

"Affirmative. Also, I heard that." Freckles replied.

"Whoah" Sarge took a few steps back.

"Don't worry! My tests determined that it was actually safer to give Freckles full control of the rifle rather than Caboose." Grey assured. Tests?

"Tests? How'd you test that?" I asked.

"I gave Caboose the rifle for about five seconds." Grey said. What could Caboose do in five seconds?

"Makes sense." Tucker said. Well it does to him. I barely know these people.

"What a busy day at the hospital that turned out to be!" Grey added. How much damage did he do in five seconds?!

"So what happens when you pull the trigger?" Sarge asked.

"It releases confetti and makes a fun party sound!" Grey answered. Caboose then demonstrated.

"Tucker did it." Accidentally.

...

"Yep, the place is definitely deserted." Tucker came back from exploring the base.

"We figured that out that when Caboose started yelling, and no one started shooting at us." I said.

"Yeah, but I just wanted to make extra sure! You know, for extra safety. Oh look, you finished moving all of Grey's tools without me, maaan, bummer." Tucker said. Well, I didn't move any boxes. I just climbed up this really tall rock to get into a sniping position to watch over everyone and supervise. But I did only come here to make sure people don't die.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to the Grif family, would ya?" Sarge asked.

" I mean, I had relations with his sister! Bow chicka bow-wow!" Tucker said.

"Grif has a sister?" I asked.

"Right. Let's begin!" Grey cleared her throat and activated a recorder in her helmet. "This is the audio recording of Dr. Emily Grey, number 05519. Upon arriving at the excavation site, I made several observations. One; there's a large alien structure protruding from the ground and extending into the sky. Two; it's nice and sunny out today and I love it! End log."

"Ladies and gentlemen, the smartest person on the entire planet." Tucker said.

"Because Virge isn't here to argue." I added. It's a bad sign the only real contenders for the title are insane people.

"So. What's up, doc?" Sarge asked.

"Well, that depends! Who here speaks alien?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Do I look like Virge to you?" I asked. He made a fucking english-to-blarg dictionary. Just so he could yell "fuck you" to them when he sees them.

"Church taught me a swear word." Tucker said. Wasn't he an ambassador for their people?

Sarge said something in spanish.

"I only know Wingdings." Caboose said.

"Okay! I'm just gonna take all of that as a no, so why don't you all keep watch while I investigate the ruins?" Grey said. Well, it's what I've been doing. I have nothing else to do. This is probably just as boring as what's going on at Armonia.

...

West's POV

"We're back." Simmons said.

"Thank god. If I had to stay here for one more minute, I'd shoot Donut and Lopez 2.0." I said.

"Well, have fun sorting through all the junk. I got a date with some crackers and a can of Cheez Whiz." Grif said. Oh yeah. I just remembered. I think I saw Mass looking through Grif's stuff earlier for something. No idea why.

"Really, Grif?" Simmons asked.

"Nah, I'll probably skip the crackers." And the fatass left.

...

Mass's POV

All my waiting is about to pay off. "What the?" Grif to the mob of punished soldiers waiting for him.

"Oh hey, Grif." Palomo said.

"Uhhh, hello?" Grif is getting nervous.

"Can't help but notice you haven't been by the training room yet." Jensen said.

"Is... Wash still making—"

"Yup." Smith interrupted. _He isn't kissing ass! Sound the alarms!_

"And all of them are—"

"Real tired of running laps." Bitters finished.

"Yeah. I gotta go." Grif started running.

"Take him! Take him now!" Palomo yelled. _That's what she said._

"No! They made me do the dishes!" Grif yelled, as the lieutenants and they're men piled on him. _That is why this is the single greatest form punishment invented._ Now, I'm going to go enjoy so crackers and a can of Cheez Whiz. _Now this is cruel AND unusual punishment._

...

West's POV

"Freeze! Reach for the sky, mercenary scum!" What the hell is Donut doing.

"Donut, put that down! It's not a toy, it's... wait, what is that?" Simmons is trying to figure out. Good for him.

"I dunno. It was in the pile of laser weapons you and Grif brought back." Donut answered.

"Looks like an old plasma rifle. Guess it got shipped by mistake." Simmons said.

"By mistake? What, did you just teleport the weapons here?" I asked.

"Actually, yeah." Simmons replied. _God damn it, Grif. Oh, I just got sent an awesome video of the soldiers beating the crap out of him. That might be the most teamwork they've had since the truce._

"So can keep it?" Donut asked.

"Well, Kimball did say all the alien stuff was broken. But I still can't help but feel that you're setting a bad example for the children."

"I'm pretty sure Caboose is back at the lab." PSI noted.

"Oh right. uh, yeah fuck it, go nuts." Simmons said.

"Yes! Agent Double-0 Donut is back in action!" Donut his gun at a rebel.

"Um... so yeah, can I get my rifle now?" He asked, with his hands in the air.

"I'm on the case!" Donut left. I'm going to go somewhere quiet.

...

North Carolina's POV

"Ok, I'm pretty sure we have no imminent threats." I just search the area, and found nothing. Suddenly, Tucker swung his sword right in front of my face.

"Jesus Christ! You almost chopped my fucking head off!" I yelled. A symbol-shaped light on a door-thing began lighting up.

"Huh? Uh, hey doc?" Tucker called Dr. Grey.

"Transcribing! Please don't interrupt! 'Weapon'... 'weapon'... why does it all say 'weapon'? Oh!" Grey was using her gear to read the symbols on something else.

"Dr. Grey, you should probably see this!" I warned.

"Not now, please, I may have just made a breakthrough! What is that word?" Well, she won't be any help.

"Trust me, I think we found something more important." I said.

"Is it 'key'?" Grey asked herself. She's just ignoring me!

"This is some serious weird alien—SHIT!" Tucker went flying backwards. The glowing symbol changed.

"That's what I was talking about." I said. The alien tower was shaking.

"What did you do?!" Grey yelled.

"I... Have no idea." Tucker said. I think he activated it with his sword.

...

Mass's POV

 _I'm detecting some kind of disturbance._ Good thing I finished my crackers. _Oh shit. Get to Donut now!_ I can see him.

"Down on yer knees, pilgrim!" Donut yelled.

"Fuck off, Donut." West said.

"I wouldn't be pulling that trigger if I were you." PSI warned. _So he sees it too._

"What?" Donut's gun began firing. "Ahh! What the fuck! Oh my god!" The alien weapons are active.

"Well, this isn't good." PSI said. West's armor was malfunctioning. Suddenly, PSI's SPD equipment exploded.

"AH SHIT!" West flew into a wall. Charon's weapons began malfunctioning and exploding.

"Ahhhh, god why, what is happening!" Simmons yelled.

Lopez walked over. "I'm not cleaning thatbup." He said. _I do not want be holding any of their reverse-engineered tech right now._

...

Daniel's POV

"What the fuck!" Derek pulled put his sword. It began glowing. He threw it at a wall, and it exploded. "Prep the dropship. I'm going back to Chorus ahead of schedule."

"I don't recommend returning alone." Price warned.

"Take Sharkface and Price with you. I'll watch the ship." Until i steal a functioning slipspace drive, the Freelancer ship is the only one going back to Chorus.

...

"What in the heck just happened? Where'd all those guns come from?" Sarge said, as he and the others got over here.

"Did you see that?" Tucker asked.

"Of course we did!" Sarge answered.

"I'm pretty sure everyone on the planet saw that." I added. An alien hologram appeared. It began talking to us in it's alien language.

"Um, what?" Tucker asked. I really wish Virge was here. He would just be so useful in figuring out all this.

"It's...alien." Grey said.

"No shit!" Tucker yelled.

"Well, say something!" I don't know if that's a good idea. If it realizes he doesn't speak english, it might become hostile. Or something.

"Uh. What's up?" The alien responded with some noise. Then he took away all the weapons.

"Tucker, you fucking idiot." I said. I walked up to him, and bashed him with my rifle.

"OW!"

"You! do not! say! 'what's up'! to the! holographic! alien! giving us! weapons!" I yelled, as I punched him while he was on the ground.

"Tucker. Do you have any idea what you just did?" Grey asked.

"I don't know. Suffered a concussion?" He answered, as he got back on his feet.

"You just activated technology that's been dormant for thousands of years." Grey answered. A map showed up.

"Looks like it wants us to go somewhere." I said.


	4. War meeting

Me: Now, things are getting interesting.

Derek: Here we go again. Anonymous Fanz doesn't own anything except for Virge, West, Mass, North Carolina, me and my brother, as well as the new project Freelancer.

...

Utah's POV

I may have a concussion right now, but it's nothing compared with the other problems I've got. We are dealing with someone who's been sneaking around this place. He snuck up on Mex, and is using him a hostage. "Put your guns down." Arizona ordered, as she threw her rifle to the ground. Colorado dropped his next. I didn't drop mine. "Utah, do it!" I threw my gun away.

"What are you doing here?" The person behind Mex had something distorting their voice.

"We came to find out about Virge." Arizona said.

"And why is that?" The guy asked.

"Our mission is to learn what happened on this planet." Arizona answered.

"We're going somewhere." The guy released Mex. There was something familiar about his armor, but I can't remember what.

"Utah, find Derek." Arizona ordered. I walked into Red base. Derek was just standing on top of it. He was looking at something. And it was not what just happened to us.

"You ok?" I asked.

"This is where I was before Virge froze me." Derek said. "This exact spot."

"Uhh, okay..." I don't know what else to say.

"There was someone else." He said.

"What?" I asked.

"Someone was watching me fight Virge." He said. "And he looked just like me."

...

"Derek's" POV

"He's been calling himself 'Sharkface'." Price explained.

"What is he, a Batman villain?" Felix asked.

"His physical appearance, combined with a deep-seated sense of contrarianism seems—"

"Oh my god, shut up. I don't care."

"Can we use him?" Locus asked.

"If we continue our sessions, absolutely." Price answered.

"'Sharkface', 'Locus'. Whatever happened to normal fucking names? I mean, am I crazy?!" Felix asked.

"Well—"

"Don't psychoanalyze me." I'll just change the subject.

"Could you explain what the fuck happened to my sword." I asked.

"Uh, What?" Felix asked.

"My sword exploded." I answered. "That's why I came here. What did your science team do with the alien weapons."

"Well, I definitely wouldn't know anything about that." He's lying.

"Uh, sir, we have a problem. All of the weapons were destroyed too." One of the sciece team members walked in.

"You have perfect timing." I said. Good enough to let me figure out exactly what went wrong.

"We had the scientists check everything. Binary rifles, suppressors, they're all dead. Even the ones on Derek's ship." They checked my ship.

"You're lucky I know what to do." I told the two mercenaries. "We should ready a small team."

"Sir, we just received a communications request from Control. What should I tell him?" I just started laughing.

"Tell him we're busy getting him the original alien weapons." I said.

...

Damian's POV

"Could you slow down." Dr. Grey is trying to tell me something about the weapons, but I'm not picking up any of it with her high speed rambling.

"Slow down?! General, the alien weapons, the vehicles, all of the artifacts we've found over the years, they weren't broken! They were just deactivated! And Tucker's sword made them work!" Grey said.

"Oh right. It's also a key." I said.

"Did Tucker's sword also deactivate them?" RHO asked.

"Actually, it was his mouth." Sarge said. What the hell?

...

"Yeah, I was part of this 'Great Prophecy' thing, because I took a sword-key from a tower and then an alien took on a quest to get a ship, but in the end it all kinda turned out to be an excuse to get me knocked up and have an alien baby." Tucker explained.

"You've...reproduced?" Doyle asked. That has to be the weirdest part of the story. I'm pretty sure that shouldn't be biologically possible!

"Fuck yeah, Junior is awesome! Check him out and his 5th grade basketball team!" He sent that... Thing to school? The fuck?

"Alright, focus. Let's go over what we know." Wash said.

"Turning on the weapons nearly killed me and my AI, and destroyed the stolen laser guns from Charon." West said.

"Actually, this could be perfect." Carolina said.

"What part of me almost dying sounds like good news?" I asked.

"Well, maybe if you'd been replaced with Grif, and instead of "almost killed", he was—" Sarge suggested.

"Stop." Grif said. We all know where he was going.

"The pulse seems to have permenantly deactivated Charon's guns." The other Carolina said.

"Whatever pieces they took from the alien technology and crammed into their own, likely short-circuited the equipment when it tried to come back online." Grey explained.

"Which means the Space Pirates ain't got their fancy lasers no more!" Sarge added.

"Which means we have an even playing Feild." I finished.

"Charon has always had the technological advantage over us. The only reason we've managed to win these last few weeks was because we have them outnumbered." Wash added.

"And yet we still lose troops with every victory." Doyle noted.

"True, but now we have them outnumbered and outgunned. Without their toys they've got nothing more than standard UNSC weaponry." Kimball reminded.

"Like I said. It's an even playing field." I said.

"You know, I've been working with weapons a lot lately and I'd just like to point out, that the standard UNSC weaponry can still put a fucking hole in your skull." Simmons warned.

"And I don't think I've ever seen Felix or Locus touching any laser guns." Mass added.

"Due inactive plasma rifles count?" Grif asked.

"we need to take advantage of this. Hitting all they're bases is going to take a time we don't have. We'll run out of ammo before we even find them all. Not to mention Derek had some moon base with who knows what. We need to end this war soon. I think it's time we marched over to crash site alpha, and blew up those giant tractor beams." I said.

"Y-you can't possibly be suggesting, that—" Doyle doesn't seem to agree with my plan.

"If we take them down, we can send a ship to bring help!" Fortunately, Kimball does.

"The mercs have to know that. Those towers are probably the most heavily defended targets on the planet, especially now." Wash warned.

"Yes. Precisely." Doyle added.

"We lose people with every fight. You said so yourself. If we don't make a move now, while they're weak, we're going to keep losing people until there is no one left!" Kimball said.

"Woah-woah-woah, hold up! What about the map?" Tucker asked. "After that bad boy turned off the tower, it showed us a map and some coordinates."

"Tucker's right. Could be buried treasure." Caboose added.

"Or a stockpile of alien weapons that melt your face off! Or turn you to stone. Or turn stones into people!" Sarge continued. Knowing the aliens, anything is possible. They worship a fucking doomsday device!

"They have a point. Taking Crash Site Alpha is possible, but not without heavy losses. Those coordinates could lead us to something that might save lives." The blue/green Carolina said.

"Or it could be a complete waste of time." Mass noted.

"One tower took out all of Charon's weapons. There's no telling what another one could do. I mean, hell! If it gives us a way to turn the other tower back on, we can add badass alien lasers to the armory! Why else are we in this war?!" Church said.

"And I get to add another weapon category to the armory spreadsheet." Simmons added.

"Nerd." Tucker said.

"Organizing data's not nerdy, it's efficient! Come on, Church is a computer. He knows what I'm talking about." Simmons said.

"Yeah, that nerd doesn't speak for me." Church said.

"Please keep us AI's out of your trivial nerd affairs." PSI requested.

"Hey, that reminds me. If we're here, who's running the armory?" Grif said.

"We don't have time to investigate! For all we know, Charon's already working on a new batch of rifle replacements." Kimball said.

"I think we have plenty of time." The tannish Carolina said.

"Felix and Locus are watching our activity. We send in a ship to investigate, and they'll just steal what you find." I said.

"If these coordinates lead to something, we can't afford it falling into Charon's hands. We need to send a small team on foot." The Bluish green Carolina said.

"And that will take time that we don't have." Kimball said.

"But what if Charon's already there? What if they've been sitting on this ship for years and we've just turned it on?! We gotta find out what's out there, even if it's just to make sure the mercs don't use it against us!" Church yelled.

"Then we'll have to split up." I said.

"Yeah, Carolina could take an away-team out to the coordinates and Damian could lead the charge against Alpha." Wash said.

"Uh, I'm way too important to risk myself on the mission. We should send Kimball instead." I don't want to go there. If I die, everyone else goes back to war. I want the peace to last.

"Nice bail." Grif whispered.

"Then it sounds like Kimballs' our leader." Wash said.

"My men will stay here, and guard the capital." Doyle added. So I won't be here alone. Great.

"Well, then you can count me and my boys in!" Sarge assured.

"Ooooohh, ah we need to work at the armory actually." Grif said.

"Shshshsh, yeah, really sorry, guys. I wish we could help." Simmons said.

Lopez said what I'm assuming was "Nice Bail.".

"Well, if you really wanna go, Lopez and I can handle the armory." Donut said.

"Excellent suggestion, Donut! Simmons, looks like you're gonna get to see your fearless colonel on the battlefield after all!" Sarge chuckled. "I wish I could look through your eyes, and see me."

"Yaaaaaaay." Simmons is not as happy about it as Sarge thinks he is.

"I'm gonna kill you in your sleep." Grif said.

"Don't try to frame me for it!" West yelled.

"That was a threat, not an accusation." PSI said.

"Right. Then the rest of us can act as the "away" team. Tucker brings the sword, Grey brings the brains,—" Church explained.

"And I bring the comic relief." Caboose said.

"I was gonna say 'the rifle with auto-targeting software'." The tan Freelancer explained. Caboose made some confetti sound. Somehow.

"We'll hop on the next Pelican to Armonia and prep to head out." His sister said.

"And if we play this right, the mercs won't even know what hit 'em." Church said.

...


	5. End of the road

**Me: Virge spoke to me yesterday, while I was watching the Death Battle live stream. More specifically, he reacted to one of Boomsticks lines.**

 **Virge: Yeah, that's how awesome I am. I have transcended the fourth wall.**

 **Me: Also, my Ipad died while I was typing this chapter. That's why it's late. I'll make it up by jamming Armonia into a single long chapter, instead of two parts.**

 **VIrge: Anonymous Fanz doesn't own anything except me, my cousin, and all the other OCs.**

 **Me: I fused the old Chapter five here, since it had less than the rest.**

...

 **Me: Time to hit the road.**

 **Damian: Anonymous Fanz doesn't own anyone except for the OCs.**

...

Derek's POV

"Where are we?" Colorado asked. I have no idea where we are, but the place is surrounded by fallen asteroids.

"If you're going to find out what happened to Virge, I need you to come somewhere with me." I don't know who this person is. He attacked Utah after I left him at Red base. And is using some gear in his helmet to distort his voice.

"What happened here?" I asked. It seems strange to me, that the meteors crashed here. They look familiar.

"You know how Virge blew up the moon during his big announcement? This is what happened to the moon." So this was the moon my base was built on. We mainly used it to moniter activity in the galaxy near Chorus to help the tractor beam target ships outside of the atmosphere. And that son of a bitch blew it up. He couldn't even settle for the half my base was on.

"Where are we going?" Colorado asked.

"You ask a lot of questions." I don't think we're getting any more answers.

...

North Carolina's POV

"Epsilon?" My sister was trying to reach her AI, who was zoning out. "Hey, Church!"

"Huh? What? What?" Church asked.

"I said, 'is this where we're parking?'" She repeated.

"Oh yeah, this is it." Church answered. We're in some unsettled territory.

"Sweet, we're here?" Tucker guessed.

"Nah, just a pit stop. We need to refill the jeeps while we have some cover. There should be some gas cans in the back." Church explained. I'll get on that.

"You told me those were lemonade cans." Caboose said. What?

"What? When?" Epsilon asked.

"The first week we met." Caboose answered. Oh, he meant Alpha.

Epsilon chuckled. "Oh. Caboose, have you been drinking..."

"The first gulp was pretty rough, but you know, I didn't want you guys to think you made bad lemonade." Caboose said.

"Well that explains the fuck out of your birthday candles." Tucker said. And Grif trying some that one time we were in the desert and ran out of juice. Because he can't drink water for some reason.

"Yeah I wished I was a dragon. It was the best birthday ever." Caboose said. Church left for a minute to talk with my sister, while the others helped me check the other car.

"Hey, are you doing okay?" Church said, when he came back.

"Yeah, we're done." I said.

"Oh, that fast. You filled up our car too?" Church asked.

"Yeah, I gave it to both of them." Tucker replied.

"Bow-chika-bow—" What the fuck?

"What? That's the joke, right?" Why the hell would you say that!

"Did she just say my thing?" Tucker asked.

"Um, no. Uh Tucker, that's Hey-chika-bump-bump. Awkward." Caboose said.

"I am only getting more confused." I noted.

"You said to loosen up!" Carolina looked to Church.

"There's a diffrence between loosening up, and being Tucker." I explained.

"I feel violated." He added.

...

"Derek's" POV

"Locus and Felix, I was beginning to wonder if you were purposefully neglecting my transmissions." After being repeated contacted by the chairman, I finally decided now was the time to answer him. Since we're ready to fix everything.

"Wha, neglect you? Chairman, please! Never in a million years! We were just... kinda in the middle of something." Felix quickly lied. I'm not planning on revealing I'm here yet.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Felix. I know exactly how frustrating it is to be interrupted. Just this morning I met with a client, who was very interested in our new Suppressor submachine gun..." Hargrove picked up the destroyed weapon. "Until the bloody thing BLEW UP IN HIS HANDS!"

"Gosh, you know, we are so sorry to hear that, sir. But it kinda sounds like you should take that up with your science team." Felix suggested.

"Oh, I did." Hargrove threw away the rifle. "In fact, I spoke with the members stationed with you on Chorus. They seem to believe that the colonists and their... heroes... are responsible for the incident. Last I checked, you are responsible for them."

"We are taking care of the situation." Locus said.

"Are you? When I hired you, I was promised perfection. I was told that you were the best! Everything we had on your backgrounds and previous missions, told me: You were the right choice! But, here we are." Hargrove ranted.

"Sir—"

"Is it lack of resources? Are the ships I've redirected to your front door not helpful?!What about the armor enhancements?! Stopping bullets in their tracks! Vanishing into thin air! Are these giftsnot good enough for you?!" He continued.

"It's complicated." Felix said.

"No, it isn't! In fact, it's remarkably simple! _..._ Everything I've built... Everything I've worked towards, rests upon a strong foundation. An intricate web of partners, politicians and clients each supporting one another and right now...your thread is straining to support the rest. I think I know what the problems is. I think, it's your motivation. Clearly your monetary compensation isn't enough. So I'd like to try something different. F.I.L.S.S.?" Wait, what? She went offline when the Director died. What the hell?!

"Yes, Chairman?" It was her. But how? A pod rose in the room.

"Do you have any idea what this is?" Hargrove asked.

"The armor of Freelancer Agent Maine." Locus anwered.

"The Meta." Felix answered.

"Not anymore. This is the future of modern warfare. Active camouflage, enhanced strength, light shields. Dr. Church paired each of his Freelancers with specialized equipment, but with our modifications, this suit contains all of them." The chairman explained. This changes everything I came here for.

"I thought that wasn't possible." Felix said.

"Not initially. The armor enhancements had to be removed and studied in secret, so that we could create the modified versions you both carry now. The variations reduced power consumption significantly, solving a large portion of the puzzle." Hargrove answered. Another portion was the AI requirement to run them. That could be particially solved, but no human will ever be capable of running that suit.

"But it's still not ready." Locus noted.

"No, not yet. Individually our new equipment can be activated without AI assistance, but tests have shown that running multiple enhancements proves to be far more taxing on the mind than we anticipated." Hargrove replied.

"So, what? You want us to capture a Freelancer's AI?" Felix asked, they've got three on the planet, but I don't think any of them could run the suit.

"Recovering Freelancer equipment is always a priority, Felix, but the surviving AI are far too old to run this suit properly. I'm doing my best to secure an AI through legitimate means, but even with my political influence, the acts of the late Dr. Church have made AI acquisition an extremely difficult process." He began touching the helmet. "But it's only a matter of time. Which brings back to my point. If the two of you can successfully complete your mission before this suit is ready, Charon Industries is willing to lend you the completed model for your own use, as a form of 'field testing'."

"Ho ho, become a one-man walking weapon? I like the sound of that!" Felix said. I am not letting him wear it.

"However, if you fail to eliminate the remaining stragglers on Chorus, then we will find another candidate to test the suit. And their first task will be finishing what you started, as well as tying up any loose I make myself clear?" If they fail, I might be that candidate. Or Daniel. Either way, I win.

"Crystal." "Yes, sir." They won't know what hit them when I get that suit.

"Good." Hargrove hung up.

"We should hurry." I warned.

"You didn't even say 'hi' to Hargrove. Guess he's not the only prick." Felix said.

"If Hargrove doesn't know I'm here, I could be chosen as he second candidate for the armor. It's best to have someone with that kind of power on your side." I answered. "Now let's see what the scientists are up to."

...

"What has your team found?" Locus asked. We made it to the place we need to be to secure what we need.

"It's complicated. Where should I begin?." I said.

"Well, you could start with what it is." Felix said.

"It's a central hub for the temples. It connects to the other temples. The energy source is where things get weird." I know alot about the hub. That thing in the center isn't familiar to me, so even I don't know how it connects to it. Mainly because I haven't seen it in use, and didn't realize it was even a thing. It wasn't active the last time I was at one of these places. Probably because the aliens were still on that planet.

"Can it be weaponized?" Felix asked.

"No. It's like the teleportation grenades. It goes somewhere. My best guess is that it leads to some other part of hub." I explained.

"Aren't you supposed to be the alien expert?" Felix asked.

"I'm more experienced with active facilities. I'm guessing the thing leads somewhere we can either reset or control the towers. There's only one way to know for sure." I walked right into the flash of light. I saw only light for a few seconds. Then I heard everything I knew of the alien language repeated in my head. I was somewhere else. Somewhere alien. It looked like I was in space, but also in a dream. _Who are you._


	6. Who are you?

Me: I rearranged parts of the last two chapters. I had to stop uploading daily because of stuff going on in my head. I think I may be losing my mind. But don't worry about it. I'm finishing this story.

Locus: Anonymous Fanz doesn't own anything except for agents Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and Damian Stark. His Brother, Amonymous Fanz2 owns agent Massachusetts.

...

Colorado's POV

"How do you know about Virge what everyone else one else on the planet doesn't?" I asked. I have so many questions, and this guy is giving me too few answers.

"They didn't know what name he was going by." This guy knows more than he's saying.

"How did you know it was him?" I asked.

"I know when I'm looking at Virge, and when I'm looking at someone else pretending to be him." Pretending? What's that about?

"How do we know you know anything?" Utah asked.

"You were in the original Project Freelancer. You were agent Utah, injured by the dome-shield equipment." Well, there's interesting trivia about Utah.

"What?" Kenny asked.

"You're friend Derek? Agent Kentucky? He fought the original Project Freelancer. Killed more than a few of them." Utah was looking at Derek. I could feel his rage. But the other guy. This guy knows stuff.

"What about you?" Arizona asked. "Who are you?"

"I'm a person who is very good at finding out things." He answered.

...

"Derek's" POV

 _Who are you._ Now the voices return to my head. "I'm Virge."

"You have no fear."

"Yeah, that isn't a problem anymore." I have nothing left to fear. I've already lost everything before. I'm waiting for death to pop his head around the corner. And I relived everything I suffered in my dreams so many times, they don't affect me anymore. My nightmares ahve been preparing me for this.

"You have no doubt." I accomplished so much, I've proven I can do literally anything. I built half of project Freelancer, and I broke it down.

"Your willpower and strength has brought you here against impossible odds."

"Yeah, I'm kind of a badass."

"It appears you are a true warrior." Awesome. Now I get the Metas suit, and the alien weapons. Because I don't want either of that stuff going to Charon. "You would seek to destroy my creators." Oh, crap.

"I don't go around trying to kill them. Although, I can't exactly say I try to let them live either." I admitted. They are probably the only things I've ever killed. After the stuff they did to me, I just don't like them. It's like when a women gets raped, and starts avoiding men. They fucked me up, so I can't exactly forgive them.

"I can not let you leave this place." Ok, that's just a dick move. Tell me how awesome I am, then decided to keep me here for an eternity. Not cool, alien AI thing. Not. Cool.

"Screw this. It's my mind, and your not keeping it here." I said.

"You will not excape." The AI said, as it appeared in front of me. I fired at it, but it was unaffected. So I shot myself.

...

I definitely am not dead. Although my head feels like I actually shot myself. "Freeze! Don't move!" I know that voice. Penny. Haven't heard from her in a long time.

"Don't even try it!" Jen.

"Drop the gun, now!" Mattherson.

"Just drop it." And Derek. Is this one of my memories?

"What the hell is that thing?" Me. From the past. Except I don't remember this. Then again, my memory isn't exactly reliable these days.

"No idea, but I think it knows what we're saying." Penny said.

"Hey! Creepy alien! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M SAYING!" Derek yelled. When I saw the alien, I realized this wasn't a dream.

"I... came through the gateway." It was a nightmare. Locus's nightmare.

"English, motherfucker!" Derek shot at Locus.

"What? Wait. I know you." Locus. He must have followed me in here.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Derek asked.

"Maybe you're just its type." Felix said. A past version of him. Locus's memory of him.

"No...Felix..." Locus is starting to realize what this is.

"I say we blow its brains out." Felix suggested.

"That's your answer to everything." The past Locus said.

"Impossible." The real Locus doesn't even realize what this is.

"Okay, I'm tired of looking at whatever the hell you are. Start talking before I shoot you." Me again. Past me.

"I- I don't understand. You're all supposed to be dead!" Locus said. Well, Penny might be. Everyone else isn't. Although he probably doesn't recognize them.

"I think it might be saying something important." Penny said.

"You're me." Locus was looking at his past self.

"Sir, I think it's trying to surrender." Locus said.

"Bullshit, I think it's stalling! Sir, this feels like a trap." Felix said.

"Why don't you recognize me?" Locus asked.

"It's because you're not him anymore." I said. Present me. "None of us are who we were then."

"Virge?" Locus is getting more confused.

"Uh, there's another one." Jen said.

"We all changed after that mission." I explained. I could see all of our past-selves flashing as our present-selves. We changed alot.

"Alright. Since there isn't English-to-Blarg translator, we have no choice but to kill it." Past me said. I think I may have actually said that. I know I definitely made one.

"Sir, it's scared." Locus said. Wait a minute.

"Good. They should be." I said. Past me said. This is getting confusing to narrate.

"If we could restrain it, we could—" Past me grabbed Locus. Oh shit.

"Listen to me very carefully." Oh fuck. "It doesn't matter what you think." Holy crap. "Right now, you're just a soldier." Son of a bitch. "You're going to do whatever the fuck I tell you, no questions asked." I created Locus. And I somehow just forgot about it.

"I know I'm not good at this, but I'm sorry For ruining your life." I apologized quickly, before we were both shot.

...

Now, I have no idea where I am. _There is no escape._ The Red alien AI reappeared. "Oh, you're Satan, aren't you." I said.

"What?" The AI was confused.

"You're here to keep my soul trapped in hell for the rest of my life." I asked.

"You are not rational." If he's saying I'm crazy, that's not news.

...

West's POV

"Now look, the fact of the matter is the ability to fly north, and only north, is just gonna lead to more problems than it solves." Sarge said. I wasn't really paying attention to the last time this conversation happened.

"Whatever, this road trip sucks!" Girf declared.

"Nonsense! Road trips are an inherent part of the Red Team experience. Enjoy the exotic sights and sounds of this beautiful, albeit wartorn, land." Sarge argued.

"Easy for you to say. You weren't here last time. This is the exact same conversation we had had when we came to this exact same gas station on our last road trip." I said.

"Exactly!" Oh god, did I just agree with Grif. NOOOO!

"Alright, almost time to hit the road again." Wash, thank you for changing the subject!

"Anyword on the away team?" Simmons asked.

"They found some sort of giant alien temple shooting pure energy into the sky." Wash answered.

"What'd I tell ya? Blue Team problems." Grif said. All the weird shit does seem to happen to them. Lopez and Virge are the only two exceptions I could name connecting to the Reds. Even then, the Blue Team has some part in it.

"You know, I think it's really admirable that you all choose to stay and fight for the people of Chorus." Wash said. What's up with him?

"Oh. Thanks, Wash." Simmons replied.

"When I first met you all, I honestly thought you'd never amount to anything but you've really proven me wrong." I could say a lot of the same things to most of them, but I still haven't seen a few of them prove me wrong.

"Uhhhh, cool. Thanks, dude." Grif said. It's safe to saw we all are noticing Wash is acting strange.

"Sure, you may not be the most conventional soldiers but no matter the challenge you always manage to find a way to come out on top. And that's something really special." Yeah, I don't like this.

"What's going on with you?" Sarge asked.

"Me? Nothing." He's lying.

"No, you're acting really weird." Simmons said.

"I just want you all to know how much I appreciate you." Wait a minute. "That's it."

"You think their going to die, dont you!" I accused.

"No, I don't!"

"No, you do. you definitely do! You're getting all sentimental and shit!" Goddammit Grif, stop agreeing with me!

"No, guys. Come on, you'll be fine! I've got total faith in you. You're some of the best solders I ever knew." Knew?

"What the fuck is that past tense bullshit!?" Simmons asked.

"Look, I just want you to know, I'm proud of you. I'm sure if you stick together, you'll be okay. What unit are you in?"

"Volunteered for the front lines!" Colonel Sarge declared.

"Oh fuck." I said.

"YOU WHAT?!" Grif yelled.

"SARGE!" Simmons yelled.

"Well, look on the bright side." He just stopped.

"You get to be the first ones to, uh, engage the enemy. Or something." Shit, I dunno. I got nothing.

"You think we're going to die, too!" Grif yelled.

"To be fair, I didn't think it until Sarge said 'Front lines'." I said.

...


	7. The great journey ends

**Me: I should warn you guys. Someone is getting fucked up. I mean screwed up in the head, beyond recovery.**

 **Caboose: Oh, is it Virge?**

 **Me: Caboose, that already happened a long time ago.**

 **Caboose: Is it me?**

 **Me: Can we have the talking gun do the disclaimer?**

 **Freckles: Anonymous Fanz does not own Red vs Blue. He only owns his original characters, and the New Project Freelancer.**

 **Caboose: There's another!? I hope they're nice!**

 **Freckles: His brother owns Mass.**

...

Arizona's POV

I don't trust this guy we're following. He's being so cryptic. We don't know who he is. All we know is he knows what we want to know. How can we trust him? We're traveling miles across the planet to who knows where. "You seem to know alot about Virge." I said.

"I know a lot about him, the Reds, and the Blues. I know things about the Project Freelancer you won't find in their records. I know a great deal of things. It's my job." He answered.

"How far are we from where you're taking us?" I asked.

"We're almost there. But we have another trip from there to go." What?

"And where is that?" I asked.

"The place where Virge died." What the hell? He can't be dead. Can he?

...

North Carolina's POV

"A true warrior?" Church repeated.

"Of physical strength and mental clarity." Grey said.

"Well it's a good thing I'm here." Tucker said.

"That's cute." My sister said. Probably the closest Tucker will get to being hit on by her. Well, other than being hit by her.

"What? Obviously I'm a true warrior. Plus, I got the sword. That means I'm the chosen one." Tucker said.

"You found the sword by falling down a hole. Then you went on the easiest quest possible, that you'd already half finished mind you, which turned out to be a scheme to get you raped by an alien. Owning that weapon proves nothing." I explained.

"Oh, why don't you tell that to the last alien temple I lit up!" Oh my fucking god.

"Tucker has a point. It's possible that merely carrying the sword through the portal will override the need to be strong and intelligent." That's a much more solid point. Thank you Dr. Grey.

"Yeah! Wait, I'm strong and intelligent."

"Eh, you have your moments." Even Caboose isn't impressed by him. And he's walking enthusiasm.

"Well, we're low on time and it's the best thing we've got." Epsilon said.

"Fine. Just... be careful." My sister said.

"Nothing to worry about baby." Tucker activated his sword. "I am a true motherfucking warrior." He jumped through the portal, and was shot back out. "Whoa! What happened?"

"I have a very, very interesting theory: You are not worthy." I answered.

"What did you see? Tell me about the other side. Did you make contact? Oh and how are you feeling?" Dr. Grey asked. I don't like when she gets excited. It feels like she's going to do some shit.

"I saw Felix." Oh shit.

"How'd they get here before us?" I asked.

"Well, I don't think it was really him. He showed up, then another Felix showed up. And the next thing I know there were a million fucking assholes all over me. Same thing with Locus and Derek, I couldn't fight them off!" Damn.

"You weren't strong enough." Grey said.

"Well, I am. And I've been waiting for a rematch." Wait, she's just ran in!? I followed her.

...

I have no idea where the fuck I am. _WHO ARE YOU?!_ I got voices in my head now? "Who the hell are you?" I asked. All I can do is walk around. Hopefully I can find my sister—Oh fuck. No! NOO! She's dead? How the fuck did that happen? I should have stopped her. Dammit! I turned, and saw everyone else. Tucker. Caboose. Grey. Wash. West. The Reds. Everyone. Dead. Am I dead? I looked at puddle and I didn't see myself in my reflection. I saw... Him.

...

What I think I'm back where I started. Wait. They're all fine. Or are they? No, this can't be them. They're all dead. This is some kind of trick. Or an illusion. Or I completely lost my mind. I don't know anymore. I aimed my gun at them, but I was knocked unconscious before I could fire.

...

Virge's POV

"Hey, this isn't the bathroom." And now they dragged poor Caboose into this shit.

"Who are you?" I nicknamed the AI Satan, because he looks like a red demon. He does this to evey person that comes through.

"I'm Caboose."

"Hmm, you are not like the others."

"Yeah. I'm blue." Wait, he might actually be worthy.

"Your mind lacks fear. Doubt is non-existent. Completely absent of negativity." He said the same things for me.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying something?" Caboose asked.

"And your strength...I've increased the gravity tenfold since you've arrived." The AI said.

"What's a tenfold?" Caboose asked.

"You...haven't noticed?" The AI asked.

"No, he doesn't no what Tenfold means." I said.

"Oh, Virge, you're here too?" Caboose asked.

"Hmm. Then it seems that you are a true warrior." Satan said.

"Neat." Caboose said. "Hey, why is Virge here?" Caboose asked.

"Yeah, Satan here told me I was worthy, then locked me in here because of my xenocidal tendencies." I said.

"Sa...Sat...San?" He won't be pronouncing correctly anytime soon.

"So, can you tell him to let me go." I said.

"Yeah, can you let him go?" Caboose requested.

"The demon is a threat to my creators." The Alien AI responded. Oh cool, he's calling me alien Satan. Demon is sort of an insult and respectable title. It has the kind of respect you'd give Hitler; A decent amount overshadowed by hatred that comes with it. The aliens mostly just referred to the Spartan's as demons, though they gave the title to one in particular. They called me it once while I was using early Freelancer armor, because they thought I was one of them. Nice to know I earned the name.

"Nah, he wouldn't hurt anyone." It's a good thing Caboose hasn't seen the evidence of the contrary.

"Yeah. I haven't killed any aliens since that one time I had that identity crisis." I said. "Plus I let Tucker's abomination of a child life, even though he was half alien. I may have killed the other alien, but I let the baby live."

...

"And we're back!" Caboose announced.

"Caboose!" Carolina seems slightly different to me. Not sure what exactly changed with her in the month or so I was off world, but she doesn't look like the same person she was when I last saw her.

"Virge?" Epsilon asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm also back." I said.

"What happened?" Church asked.

"I went in there hours ago, but the alien didn't like me because I don't like aliens, so it kept me as a prisoner until Caboose convinced him to let me go." I explained.

"Wait! An alien?!" Tucker thinks he's going to get raped again? Ha!

"Greetings." Satan appeared.

"Whoa!" "Jesus!" Everyone jumped.

"My apologies, but is there anyone else I could speak to? Perhaps someone with a broader vocabulary?" Satan asked.

"Who...What are you?" Carolina asked.

"He's an AI." Church answered.

"Correct. I'm a construct left behind by my creators to ensure that their gifts are passed on only to those who are worthy." The AI said.

"Yes. And that is why I named him: Santa." God damn it Caboose.

"Santa?" Carolina repeated.

"Santa." Caboose echoed.

"Santa?" Tucker asked.

"Yes. Santa." Caboose said.

"Santa." The AI said.

"Santa, the alien AI construct." Church said.

"I wanted to call him Satan." I noted.

...

Derek's POV

"Virge came back here as me?" I asked. Most of this road trip has been us traveling around, asking questions. Why stop now.

"Yeah. Apparently when he froze you, he also thought it was a great idea to become you again." Interesting.

"Why did he come back?" I asked.

"At first, he was just trying to find out where Charon was keeping the stuff stole from Bravo." Of course. That's what he did last time we crashed a Freelancer ship. "Later, he found out that Charon got their hands on the fucking Meta's armor, and added upgrade versions of the equipment."

"The Meta? You mean Maine?" Utah asked.

"Yep. At least what was left of him." This guy sounds like he knows more than he's saying.

"What's the difference?" I asked.

"Mostly psychological. He changed from an agressive personality to an agressive entity." I don't understand.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Colorado asked.

"He lost his personality. He wasn't Maine anymore. He was just a soldier." Kind of like Locus. "We're here." I looked at the place we've journeyed to: My old space station.


	8. Ask Santa

**Me: RIP North Carolina's sanity. It will be missed. But now, I can do so much with him.**

 **Santa: Anonymous Fanz does not own Red vs Blue. He does own the OCs, Virge, West, North Carolina, Damian Stark, And the new Project Freelancer.**

...

Virge's POV

"Are you sure there is no end to your questions?" Santa asked. No end to mine either. Why is NC lying on the floor? What is everyone else doing? WHERE is everyone else? Why are we here? That's just the beginning.

"You have no idea." Grey said. I remember when I used to care about their culture. Mostly it wasa just a hobby to deal with my PTSD by not shooting the crap out of stuff.

"Alright, let's not start foaming at the mouth here." Epsilon warned.

"I can foam wherever I want, thank you very much!" Grey retorted. I wouldn't know how it's possible to foam anywhere else. Unless...

"The legacy of my creators is scattered throughout the galaxy. Their history, their technology, all left behind for future species to discover. This planet, the one you've claimed as Chorus, was one of great importance. It is here that they've kept some of their most valued treasures." Santa explained. Weird. The alien AI is beginning to sound more like he was made by the ancient alien species his creators were worshipping. Maybe Charon wasn't the first to start messing with the temples.

"What kind of treasures we talking about?" Tucker asked. "Like Indiana Jones Golden Island treasures?" Tucker moaned. Probably the only time he's ever made that happen to someone. "Or is it some stupid metaphorical stuff like 'The real treasure was friendship the whole time'." Yeah, his last quest probably sucked. To be far, he was being bullshited so he could get what is technically considered "alien rape".

"My creators bequeathed many gifts and you will find each locked away within a temple." Santa said. "Lavernius Tucker, you triggered the Temple of Arms. With its power you reactivated combat vehicles, weaponry and a myriad of other technological models from the time long past. These are merely a fraction of the gifts left behind by my creator."

"That's amazing!" Grey exclaimed.

"So then why'd you turn it off?" Tucker asked.

"I encountered an anomaly. The temples on this planet can only be activated with a key wielded by a true warrior. However, some time ago, one of my temples was meddled with." Santa answered. Probably not.

"Oh yeah, that was me. The space pirates wanted to use gravity well, AKA the giant space dick." I said. Why giant alien guns always looks like that is beyond my understanding.

"The temple was designed to form a defensive barrier around the planet by manipulating gravity. The meddlers managed to circumvent my security measures and partially activated the temple, giving them moderate control over the planet's gravitational field." I know what it does.

"I'm just that awesome." I said.

"Yeah. Nice work giving partial control of the planets gravity to the mass-murderers we're fighting." Church replied sarcastically.

"It's a groundbreaking scientific achievement. The only bigger thing is that abomination of child Tucker had." I said.

"Don't bring Junior into this!" Tucker yelled.

"This act should havebeen impossible without the Great Key." When your cursed with what I have, anything is possibel. "Which brings me to you." He's staring directly at Tucker.

"Me?" He asked.

"I sensed your Key's power at the Temple of Arms and allowed you to activate it, but when you did not respond in the voice of my people, protocol insisted I bring you here for further testing." Santa explained. Now I know why they're here.

"Sorry dude. The only language I speak, is American." Tucker said. I only speak english and alien. I didn't want to learn alien, but when you're plugged into enough alien computers, you learn things.

"Weren't you an alien ambassador?" Carolina asked.

"That's about as legitimate as his military experience." I answered.

"But why test us if Tucker already has the sword? Or key?" Grey asked.

"Because my records state that the Great Key of this planet has yet to be claimed." Santa answered. Had I known this AI was here, I would have activated him years ago. Would have made a few things easier.

"Wait! There's another key!?" Tucker exclaimed.

"Of course! In case you lock one in your car! My God, they have thought of everything!" Caboose has something resembling a point. Why make one key, when you can make many.

"It lies in a mountain temple to the east. After the security failure I had to be sure that the presence of two keys was not an error in my programming. It is now clear to me, that although your key comes from another world, it was in fact forged by my creators, and is therefore acceptable." Santa explained.

"Sweet! Then that means we can go back to our tower and turn it on." Tucker said.

"Alien weaponry for everyone!" Dr. Grey exclaimed.

"And you said that was only a fraction of the stuff that's here, right?" Church asked.

"Correct." Santa confirmed.

"So what do the other temples do?" I asked. I only got to see the gravity well manipulator. I have so many names for it, because I only know stuf about that one.

"Hmm, there is the Temple of Weather Manipulation, Bountiful Harvest, Interior Decorating, Procreation, Communication—" Interior decorating? What the fuck is that one going to do?

"Wait, what was that last one?" Church interrupted.

"Communication. Activating this temple will allow you to send a message to virtually any communication device in the galaxy." Santa answered. Might come in handy later.

"And what was the one before that?" Tucker asked.

"Procreation. Activating this temple will throw the inhabintants of Chorus into a ravenous sexual frenzy with the intent to increase a potentially dwindling population." I don't think the temple would be needed for that to work.

"We... won't be needing that one." Carolina said.

"Well, let's not rule anything out." Tucker added.

"Well, it's still way better than interior decoration." I noted.

"Yo! Alien dude!" Church yelled.

"Santa." The AI identified.

"I refuse to call you that." Church replied.

"Then call him satan." I said. "He looks demonic enough." Just give him horns and wings, and the look is complete.

"Look, we actually need to transmit a message to Earth but there's been a bunch of radio jammers keeping it from getting out. You think this temple thing will be strong enough to break through them?" Church finished

"Without question." Santa said.

"Well then, that's it! We don't need a full-on assault! We don't even need alien weapons! We just gotta activate that temple and call for help." So, I'm guessing that they have some plan of a crazy head on assualt. But where would they attack?

"Then let's radio Kimball and get out of here." Carolina said. To

"Wait! Before you leave, I must warn you. The gifts left behind by my creators are immensely powerful." He already said that. "If taken by those less worthy, the results could be catastrophic. Which is why my creators constructedthe Purge." Oh shit. That sounds like a doomsday device. And I know how much the aliens love their doomsday devices!

"That doesn't sound ominous at all." Tucker added, sarcastically.

"As its bearer, the Great Key will remain bonded to you and you alone, until the time of your death. If you believe the inhabitants of this planet are not ready for my creators' gifts, activating the Purge will cleanse them." Cleanse? Not a good word to hear from the aliens.

"And by 'cleanse, you mean?

"It's a fucking doomsday device." I answered.

"Correct. All sentient life on Chorus will be exterminated." Santa finished.

"Dude. Buzzkill." Tucker said. Yeah, this just turned really dark.

"And where exactly is this thing?" Church asked.

"Here." Santa updated the map. " I will also update all previously sent maps with temple locations." Oh fuck.

"Trust me, that's a bad idea." I said. "The pirates are probably back at the gravity temple already."

"What do you mean back?" Carolina asked.

"Oh yeah. I kinda lead them here. But if you haven't seen them, then they probably left." I said.

"Wrong." Dammit. Four of them stayed behind, and no one noticed they were here. Shit. They fired at them, but Carolina used the bubble shield. I rolled for cover, and got locked out. I KNOW she didn't have one of those when I left. How many armor mods does she have right now?

"And that was close." Caboose said.

"Affirmative." Freckles is in Caboose's gun?

"Charon's here?" Grey asked.

"Yep. When my sword blew up, I knew someone reactivated the alien weapons. Since Tucker had his sword, he obviously went poking it in one of the temples. So I came back, and lead them here." I explained.

"Why? They're the enemy!" Tucker yelled.

"You're first mistake was thinking I was Virge." I restored my armor to Derek's colors. I have bigger things to worry about than them. Like the Meta's armor.

"Your second was giving us all the intel we need." Sharkface. I was wondering where that guy was.

"What are you talking about?" Tucker asked.

"As soon as their shield falls, open fire. Just leave the Freelancer alive for me." Guess he hasn't seen the other Carolina lying on the floor behind him.

"You really think your enough to stop us?" The Carolina with the bubbleshield asked.

"You're only safe for as long as that shield is up, then you've got no cover and a failing A.I. So yeah, I do." Sharkface said. Church is pretty close to the end of his lifecycle.

"Besides, the rest of our guys are prepping for your friends at Alpha." Oh, of course. Hit it while their vulnerable. That's a terrible plan. Unless they sent everyone. But then the stuff with the temples would backfire. It was a hopeless situation. Whoever is running things couldn't have done anything about it.

"What?!" Grey asked.

"I hope you said your goodbyes, last time you saw them. They're about to learn what a suicide misssion is like." I said. I hate suicide missions.

...

West's POV

"This is Colonel Sarge. We have engaged the enemy! In for a short courtship of blood!" Good for him. Front lines duty is working out for them so far.

"Copy that, Red leader! Good work." Kimball reported.

"All squads, cover each of your sectors, ASAP!" I ordered. "Let's do this before they figure out whats hitting them!" Suddenly, a ship appeared. _UNSC Tartarus. That's a pretty old ship. I'm willing to bet that Charon's repurposed it to send reforcements._

"DID SOMEONE ORDER AN ARMY?!" _Sometimes, I hate being right all the time._ Troopers started dropping out of the ship. Using jetpacks to land safely. _Their armor appears to be a new generation of MJOLNIR. However, it's manuvers have been sloppily programmed. They can land, but their truster equipment won't let them do much else._

"Looks like they brought backup." Mass said.

"Of course. Like they'd just let us take the planet." RHO said.

"Ahh! I-it-it's a trap! Why is it always a trap?!" Palomo is probably peeing himself right now.

"They're cutting off our escape!" Wash warned.

"Where did they get more men?!" Kimball asked.

"Based on my scans of their IFFs, most of them are criminals. Primarily, Insurrection and Ex-Freelancer. Ironic, I know, but their commander is more interesting. Daniel—" PSI was cut off by the guy he was talking about.

"I was hoping Damian would be here. Then we could have had a whole family reunion!" Daniel Stark. That might be the first legitimate surprise I've had since coming to Chorus.

...

Daniel's POV

"Guys, I just got some news." Derek is on the coms? Last I heard, he teleported to who knows where.

"Report." Locus ordered.

"What if I told you we found a way to kill everyone on Chorus with the turn of a key? ...And what if I told you we're heading to that key right now?" Nice work from him and Sharkface! Of course, they did know each other. Both of them got screwed up around the same time.

"I'd say you're gonna need backup." Felix answered.

"Take a Pelican! I've got Alpha covered!" Locus ordered.

"I'll bring it in." I'm a pretty good pilot. And we're in hurry, so we need a great one.

"Daniel, watch your back." Derek warned. If he's warning me, it's a sign he may not be trusting someone. Felix? Thet seem to be on good terms. Ah. Maybe I'm just overthinking things.

...

Damian's POV

"Mayday! Mayday! This is Vanessa Kimball to Armonia! We need immediate ground support! Please respond! Over!" Whoa! They're in trouble? What the hell?

"What the devil is happening out there?" Doyle asked.

"Kimball, what's the problem?" I asked.

"The whole thing was a set-up! Charon's got way more men than we were led to believe! They've got a ship... They ambushed us!" Damn. Just... Damn!

"I don't know what you want us to do—" Before I could Finish, Kimball explained.

"I need you to take all of Doyle's men, and leave!" She yelled. "Forget the capital, and bring the pelicans!" She wants us to pull them out by leaving Armonia vulnerable.

"Um, yes, of course!" Doyle left to gather his troops.

"Damian, wait! Can you hear me?" The blue/green freelancer.n

"Uh, agent Carolina? What can I do for you?" I asked.

"I know Kimball needs those reinforcements, but we need them first." What?

"Why?" I asked.

"V—Derek is on his way headed the mountains east of our location. We need you to beat him there!" Derek? He's back?!

"We have a Daniel Stark kicking our asses out here!" West yelled. Daniel! Oh for gods sake! Now I have both my mercenary brothers ganging up on me. Just like when I was a kid. But this time, lives are on the line. "What is at that mountain more important than half our army?!"

"A key that's going to end the world." It better be another sword.

"Doyle, Donut, Lopez, get me a pelican!" I ordered.

...

Derek's POV

"This used to be mine." I said. My moonbase. I never thought I'd see it again.

"Now, my friends use it to hide my stuff." Who is this person? Who are these friends?

"Wait a minute, you fought the Freelancers, and the Reds and Blues?" Colorado asked.

"I fought Virge. They just happened to be helping him at the time." I answered.

"Interesting that people around here thought you came back, when it was Virge using your name again." Who ever this is, they know things, but chooses to play this game of riddles. "When it comes down to it, the diffrence is mostly psychological. Virge is so broken, he stopped caring about things. You only care about one thing."

"How do you know these things?" I asked.

"Again, it's my job to know things. But I take a special interest when the Freelancers are involved." I will find out who you are. That's a promise.


	9. Things turned east

**Me: Daniel Stark. Anyone saw that coming? Well, we are about to move onto the second half of the story soon. When we get there, shit is really gonna go crazy.**

 **Damian Stark: I don't think I Like the direction your taking this story.**

 **Me: You're just scared. Where Doyle?**

 **Doyle: Uh, where exactly are we?**

 **Me: Not important. *points to the sign* read!**

...

Derek's POV

We walked up to the weeckage of my space station. "Hey! Stay right where you are, or each of you get a taste of rocket launcer for lunch!" Wait a minute. I know him.

"Daniel. What the hell are you dong here?" I asked.

"Oh, you piece of shit!" That wasn't Daniel. But he was very pissed off at me. He fired the rocket launcher, which I barely dodged.

...

West's POV

"Medic! We need a medic!" Two of the soldiers are yelling for help. I ran over to help.

"I'm a medic! Calm down, soldier. Where are you hit?" The rebel medic I never saw that much also came to help.

"Relax, I got this." I attempted to use my healing unit, but nothing happened. "Why isn't this work?!"

"Uh, you gave your healing Unit to Doc before the attack on Crash site Alpha. Remember." Thanks for the reminder PSI. _It's what I do._

"Wait a second, I'll be back." I said, before leaving. _Hopefully, he doesn't bleed out in that secondk._

...

Mass's POV

Grif stopped the warthog after I scared off the guys chasing him. They do not like me firing that gun North Carolina stole from Locus. It's a pretty awesome gun, but it's basically a handheld machinegun. It's not like I have a rocket launcher. "Mass! Status report!" Sarge ordered.

"Outnumbered, outgunned, and being seriously outmaneuvered." I reported.

"Excellent news!" Sarge declared. I like the way he thinks.

"Excellent?!" Grif exclaimed.

"Now, they're putting up a fight. Here I was worried this would be too easy." I said.

"Ya gotta hand it to those villains, always one step ahead." Sarge chuckled. "You can learn a thing or two from them, Simmons."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind if we survive, sir." Simmons noted.

"Any bright ideas, Colonel?" Grif asked as he got out of the car.

"The way I see it, we'll punch through the Pirates' defenses with an adrenaline-fueled slow-motion car crash! Thus creating an opening for us to escape and allowing me to scratch one more thing off my 'fuck it' list." Colonel Sarge answered. I've been a my fair share of car crashes, but known of them were slow-mo.

"How do you just make something slow-motion?" Grif asked.

"If it's awesome enough, life makes it happen!" RHO answered.

"Love the enthusiasm! It's great, sir. Really." Simmons said. "But don't you think we could try something, that won't get my head blown off?"

"You could go regruop with Wash that haven't been while I take your seat." I replied.

"It's more or less safer. We draw their fire while you slip past them while their distracted." RHO noted.

"Fuck this, I'm going there." Grif drove the hog away. Well, it's back on the mongoose.

...

North Carolina's POV

Where am I? I got up to see my sister in the dome shield with fours guys shooting at them. No, I'm not letting them die! I grabbed my dmr, and shot each pf their heads simultaneously. "HOLY SHIT!" Tucker exclaimed.

"Oh wait, he's on our side again?" Caboose asked. What?

"Good to have you back." My sister deactivated the dome-shield.

"Back? What happened?" I asked.

"When you came out, you started shooting at us, shouting, 'Your all dead!'." Church explained.

"And then your sister knocked you the fuck out!" Tucker added. Wait, that was real. I almost killed my real friends. Shit!

"We need to find Derek." My sister said.

"Derek? I thought Virge took care of him." I said.

"I think he might have been impersonating him." Church said.

"Oh, what if Derek was Virge the whole time?!" Caboose asked.

"Caboose, shut the fuck up." I need a minute to process this. I was going to kill my friends. My sister. Dammit!

...

Daniel's POV

"Looks like we beat them here. This is the temple." I said. Weird. They were closer. I hope they didn't get into too much trouble.

"Oh good. You know, I really wasn't sure, until you said that. Why don't you put those amazing powers of observation to use and stand guard, okay? Okay." Why is Felix being such an asshole? What did I do wrong?

"Does he do that all the time?" I asked on of the other pirates. I don't have much personal experience with the others, since I mostly just sit in Derek's space station. Mainly when he's not using it.

"You just kinda learn to tune it out." He pirate said. Well, I won't see him much after we get paid. Probably.

"Hey, Freddy Krueger! There's nothin' in here! Do we gotta do something?! Say the magic words?! Sacrifice, like... a goat?" I already knew he never shuts up.

"You are too late." What the fuck is that thing?! It looks Like Freedy Krueger fucked a goat! What the hell?!

"You are too late." It said.

"Whoa! What!? What do you mean 'too late'?! Where's the sword?" Felix shouted.

"It has already been claimed by another." Well. That's probably a bad sign.

"GODDAMMIT!" Well, he's definitely pissed off.

...

Damian's POV

This is by for the craziest thing I've done since the Reds and Blues got to this planet. "Alright, we need evac." Lopez had a pretty long answer, so I think somethings happening.

"Good point, Lopez. You get that, General?" Why did Donut have to be the translator.

"No, I don't speak spanish, dumbass." I answered.

"GODDAMMIT!" That's Felix! And he sounds pissed off.

"Uh, Donut, we need that ship right now!" I do not want to see him when he's angry.

"They're here! Spread out and find them now!" Oh, we are dead.

"Shit, Doyle, give me the sword." I ordered. "They won't leave without the sword. I'll draw their attention, while you get out of here."

"But what will happen to you?" Doyle asked. "If you die—"

"You and Kimball are going to have to learn to get along without me." I ran out of our cover. "HEY ASSHOLES?! Over here!" I fired my BR at Felix.

...

West's POV

"How do you just make something slow-motion?" Wash asked.

"If it's awesome enough—" PSI started

"RHO said it already." Simmons interrupted. _Damn you, twin me._

"We're losing men here! I need to start hearing some serious solutions and I need them now!" Kimball yelled.

"Who said I wasn't serious?" Sarge asked.

"Perhaps we could us the environment to our advantage." PSI suggested. "I may be able to access some of the crashed ships engines."

"Oh dude! Are you gonna fly us out of here?" Grif asked.

"No, the damaged engines should create a giant smokescreen, which may be able to cover our escape." PSI said.

"Or, the engines will explode, killing everyone here. Fifty-fifty chance." RHO noted.

"That's a start. Red Team, you and the freelancers take charge on this, let me know when you're ready." Kimball ordered.

"Roger that." Mass complied. _West, I need you to stay near the engine, so I can access it._ Whatever you need.

...

North Carolina's POV

We're finally at the mountain base. Everyone caught me up on what happened while I was out. "Damian, General Doyle, we've dropped in at your position. Pelicans are looking for a safe LZ. Where are you? Over." My sister is talking to the generals. "Gonna have to be a little more specific, sir." Which one took the sword. "Damn it! We need to find him."

"If we split up, we can cover more ground." Oh, sure, Tucker. Split up so we can all DIE ONE BY ONE!

"Okay, Scooby. Let's not make it too easy for the bad guys." Church warned. At least some of us have sense. Suddenly, a pelican crashed in front of us. Derek and another guy walked out.

"Next time, I fly." Sharkface said.

"Jinkies! It's Sharkface!" Caboose exclaimed.

"Caboose, if you're gonna give him a nickname, don't make it that stupid." Tucker said.

"Actually, that's his real name." Derek said. "It makes more sense if you see his real face."

"Seems we're both looking for the same man. Bet you I'll find him first!" What's he up to?

"In your dreams." NO! I'm not letting it happen. I ran after her.

...

Virge's POV

"Hey, where are you going?!" Tucker asked.

"Split up and cover more ground!" Carolina answered. She and her brother left.

"Oh, so when it's her idea, it's a good thing."

"It's not. But as long as she keeps Sharkface busy, I don't have to be Derek." I switched back to Virge.

"Are you on our side or not?" Tucker asked.

"Well, i'd rather not give Charon the key to the planet, so yeah." I answered.

"So why'd you leave us with those guys back there?" Tucker asked.

"Well, I figured it be better to take the key before anyone else does." I replied.

"It does make sense. It be easier to take it as Derek than to help us by revealing himself." Thank you, Dr. Grey.

"Hostiles detected." Oh yeah. Freckles gun.

"RUN!" Tucker yelled. We all ran into a ice cave. "Whew! Think we lost'em?"

"Wait. Listen." I swear I hear something. "That's not the usual echoing of my dead friends voices I hear, is it?" I asked. If it is, then I have a problem. Because those disappeared a while ago, and a sudden resurgence of the voices is not good.

"Oh, man! Don't tell me it's alien zombies or something!" Tucker yelled.

"I hate alien zombies! They spread like cancer, AND are overused!" Seriously. They suck!

"Friendly heat signature detected." Oh, so he's on our side?

"Thank god!" Oh no.

"NOO! GOD, NO! GOD, PLEASE, NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOO!" WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE HIM! HE SHOULD HAVE DIED AT ALPHA! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


	10. Eye for an eye

**Me: Well, time for a epic fight. The Carolina's vs Sharkface.**

 **Sharkface: I've been waiting for this a long time. Anonymous Fanz doesn't own anything except for his OCs.**

 **Me: Of course. Wait, why is it that your friends always do the disclaimer without any questions.**

 **...**

Arizona's POV

Daniel fired a second rocket. Mex sniped it, knocking down Daniel. "Friend of yours" Colorado asked.

"Worse." Kentucky answered.

"Relax, D." The stranger said.

"The guy needs to die! You know that!" He is clearly pissed off at Derek.

"What did I do?" Derek asked.

"Don't pretend you don't remember." Daniel said. "This is about the sword."

"My katana?" Derek asked.

"Not the knock off sword. The alien sword. The one from the temple!"

...

West's POV

"Guys, does anyone remember where Doc is." I asked.

"Uh, wasn't he with you?" Sarge asked.

"No." I answered.

"Huh. Grif! Simmons! You remember sending Doc to another dimension?" Another dimension? What the hell?

"Who?" Simmons asked.

"Doc! The purple guy!" Sarge yelled.

"Uh, last time I checked, West was a chick." Grif said. God damn it.

"No, the other purple guy!" Sarge yelled.

"You mean North?" Mass asked.

"North isn't purple." Simmon's corrected.

"No, the other North—Oh right, you guys don't know him." Mass said. RIP North Dakota. _We shit on his memory because we don't know how to respect it._

"Apparently he got teleported to another dimension. Blue team just found him." Oh. I see. Blue team problems.

"Dammit. The one time I need my healing unit, I left it with the one guy we see least." I said. _Ironically, he was more likely to use it AND need it._

"Is that Virge?" Sarge asked. "Why does it sound like he's crying?" Virge crying? Never in my life have I seen him cry. He usually tries to hide negetive emotions. Other than rage, which he does not control well. I can't imagine what happened to him since I last heard from him. "Uh, do you need Doc alive?" Sarge asked me.

"Nooo." I answered slowly.

"Oh good. Because Virge is trying to kill him." Damn.

...

North Carolina's POV

Finally, I caught up with my sister. She already took car of Sharkface. "I still got it." She congratulated herself. _Looks like you missed round one._ An announcer in my head. Just what I needed!

"Glad that your still as good as when I was a Freelancer. But dont forget you kinda abandoned the mission." I reminded.

"I had to make sure he wasn't a threat." She dismissed.

"Having to stroke your own ego is more like it." Church remarked.

"Oh, please. Like you're one to talk!" She seems to be ignoring the problem. Suddenly, Sharkface was behind her. _Ding! Ding! Ding! It's round two!_

"Oh crap." I tried to shoot him, but he dodged my DMR's bullet. When my sister turned around, he took her battle rifle and kicked her into me.

"You're very efficient at administrating pain, Carolina." I'm assuming he's talking to my sister based on the fact that I haven't touched him. "But pain is something I've learned to live with." What the fuck is this guy's problem?

...

Mass's POV

"You really should've killed when you had the chance, Locus." Wash's plan better work. "I know you can hear me. I made sure this was broadcasting on all open channels." If not, we aren't going get rid of Locus anytime soon. "I guess I'm just full of disappointments." Seems like it is. "You know, I've been thinking about the last time we met. The questions you asked me." What questions? I wasn't there, I was fighting Felix. "I'm at the southwest side of the crash site. You still don't feel like talking?" A sniper sent Wash's helmet to the ground. _We got his Location now._ "Please tell me you caught the vapor trail on that shot." Wash put his helmet back on. _Using it as a decoy was smart, but if he saw us from the right angle, the plan would have backfired._ "He's not gonna fall for the same trick twice."

"We got him." I said. "Bitters. Smith. Attack!" We fired at his position. A few bullets hit him, disrupting his camo.

"Woohoo! Eat a dick, you Predator knock-off!" Bitters shouted.

"PSI, report." I ordered.

"I have access to the engines. Private Jensen has proved very helpful in bringing the engines online." PSI said.

"Hey, what about me?" Palomo asked.

"You would've made an excellent human shield, Palomo." Jensen said.

"Thank you." _She's basically saying he could have been as useful as a metal crate. Or a wall._

"You guys get that?" Wash asked the Reds.

"Loud and clear." Sarge answered.

I'm "You sure this will work?" Kimball asked.

"Yeah. Other than the fifty percent chance we'll all die, nothing could posibly go wrong. Probably." PSI said.

"Now you probably jinxed us." West noted.

"Well, it's better than getting shot I guess." Grif said. "Or is it? Wait, what happens if this doesn't work?" He asked

"We explode." Simmons answered.

"Great. Everybody listen up! We're making our move!" I jumped into the Reds warthog because I need a vehicle. The ship engines created the smokecreen.

When we drove out, we somehow in slow-motion, reenacting Sarge's plan. "Life finds a way!"

...

Daniel's POV

"WHY ARE YOU NOT DEAD! You're supposed to be dead!" I slowly moved through the caves. That yelling sounds like Virge. He probably came here with Damian. Makes sense. Except for the part where he's a deadman.

"Does he normally do this?" That's Dr. Grey

"He used to punch Church's dead bodies." Private Tucker.

"Yeah, he also does this thing where he pretends to be one of the Reds and starts calling himself Derek." Wait a minute. "It's like an inside joke." Could Derek be Virge in disguise. No, he couldn't fool me. It has to be Derek tricking them. If Virge could be him, Why not the other way around?

"You are, without question, the most fascinating group of individuals I have ever had the pleasure of meeting!" She is creepy.

"Someone help!" Who the fuck is that guy that keeps screaming? I have never seen him before.

"Where's my money, bitch!" Derek. Virge. Whoever. He is clearly out of his mind. "You gonna give me my money?!" That voice isn't either of their's.

"Why does he hate me?" The purple guy asked.

"Remember the therapy sessions you had with Derek?" I can finally see him. "Guess who I am?!" He changed to Derek's red and grey.

"Whoa! I was just trying to keep you calm. All that anger—" He punched the purple guy.

"You shouldn't try to negotiate with a crazy person when you have other crazy people hunting you down!" Oh! I think he's signaling us.

"Move up." I ordered. My men went in.

"Right now, I don't have time for this shit! I just want to grab the damn sword so I can leave Chorus and never have to deal with Charon again!" He yelled.

"Oh, they're here now." Shit, they got spotted. We didn't account for the blue guy.

Suddenly, my men were shot in the back."Boo-yah! Consider yourselves penetrated!" What the fuck? The pink girl is here? The brown guy said something involving perforation. "Thanks, Lopez! I do live la vida loca." That's not what he said. God, these people are stupid.

"I honestly don't know if this is better or worse." Tucker said.

"You all go find General Doyle. I'll stay here and make sure your medic friend is okay." The mad doctor said.

"Yeah, the medic needs a medic." The blue one said.

"Hey, is that Doc?" Donut asked.

"No, it's Omalley!" Derek yelled sarcastically.

"Huh, feels like I haven't seen him in ages! Weird." Who the hell is the purple guy?

...

North Carolina's POV

My sister ducked a kick from Sharkface. Carolina rushed him, beginning with a set of punches. He blocked all of them, But I was able to land a punch on him while he was busy with her. While he was recovering, I charged at him. He wasn't prepared to block my first punch, but he was able to grab my wrist in the middle of the second. Then, he chuckled. He punched me in the face, and threw me aside. I can't tell if this guy is dangerous or not. We keep knocking him down, but he doesn't stay down. When I got up, my sister kicked him in the back. I heard him yelling as his arm got injured. Well, that should keep him down for a while. "Epsilon, BioScan." Maybe he can figure out what the hell is this guy running on. _"_ _Shoulder's dislocated. Guy's a pincushion. He's got plates and staples all over his body."_ Epsilon used the radio to report his analysis. That voice isn't coming from my head. What the fuck happened to this guy?

"Are they weak points?" I asked. _"_ _More like reinforcements."_ I think he was part of some military project in the past. Could be something Charon put together to fight us. Or one of Freelancer's rival projects.

"You Freelancers love your gadgets. But it's a step in the right direction." He relocated his shoulder, by hand. I'm guessing Rival projects.

"Who are you?" My sister asked.

"Your past come back to haunt you." We fought this guy before? No she did. He was looking at her specifically. Most of the fight, he was focusing on her. He specifically was baiting her to fight him. This is about her. _He's here to make your fears a reality._ No, I won't let him! My sister tried to charge him, but he countered with a kick and Some punches. She was able to block his last one. "What did we ever do to you?!"

I was about to hit the guy in the back, but he backhand punched me, then turned to hit me with a second punch which I managed to dodge. When he sent his third, I grabbed his fist and pulled him towards me. But he used this to hit me with a forth punch which knocked me away. "No. Just you." He looked back to my sister. "Let me jog your memory." Something came out of his gauntlet. It shot fire at my sister. It's a flamethrower. That isn't helping me figure out who he is. "You're gonna burn for what you did to me, Carolina!" I struggled to get back up. I think I might have broken a rib or something.

"You were at the vault the day of the heist. Part of the Resistance." Heist? Resistance? He already worked for Charon?

"That's right! So now you understand why you have to die." He has two flamethrowers? What the fuck is this guys problem? My sister grabbed the second one and locked it in his gauntlet, then did the same to the first. I kicked him in the back. When he turned around, I grabbed the flamethrowers and locked them. He tried to punch me, but I dodged. My sister kicked him, sending him towards the frozen lake. My sister jumped on him and punched him in the face. Oh crap, that ice isn't going to handle us fighting on it. Sharkface started breaking the ice, hitting it with his shoulders. When it fell, my sister jumped and grabbed the edge that hadn't shattered. I was about to help her out when a grapple hook pulled her down. NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

...

Damian's POV

"Crap, Crap, Crap, Crap, Crap!" It's a fucking cliff. Great!

"End of the line, General." Felix said. And Felix is behind me. Awesome!

"What we have here is a perfect gambit." I said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Felix asked.

"You have a DMR. If you shoot me, I'll be knocked down the cliff." I said. "You move closer, and I'll step back." I'm barely standing on this ice. "You kill me, and I fall. Let me leave, and you lose the sword. No matter what happens, I win."

"But if you die, what happens to your army?" Felix asked.

"They can manage without me. But yours won't last long without the sword, will they?" I asked. My brother just got here. Except the other Freelancers.

"I'd take that bet." Daniel said.

...

Daniel's POV

"Derek, nice of you to join us." Damian said. "Now, the whole family here. Plus Felix."

"Damian, give up. The only way you live is if we get the sword." Derek ordered.

"I don't know. This cliff looks survivable. Who knows, maybe skydiving off it will be fun." Damian said.

"Don't do it." I warned. All of us are pointing are guns at him.

"Or what? You'll shoot me?" He asked, laughing at the very idea.

...

North Carolina's POV

The first thing I saw when I found Damian, was him getting shot in the head. God damn it.


	11. Boy, that escalated quickly

**Me: You might want to reread the last chapter. I added in an segment.**

 **Virge: Damian got shot!**

 **Damian: God damn you.**

 **Me: I editted it before I before I wrote this, so make sure you read it.**

...

Utah's POV

Derek's friend is pretty pissed off. "D, you should be angry at Charon. They were the puppet masters." I'm guessing this is Virge's fault somehow.

"Just grab whatever you need and leave." "D" ordered. He walked back inside of the space base.

"What's his problem?" Colorado asked.

"He's pissed off at the other Derek threw him under a bus." I almost forgot that Virge was him for a while

"Who was that guy worked for Charon?" I asked.

"More or less, he was a pawn in Hargroove's games." That isn't exactly an answer. "And they played him like a damn fiddle."

...

North Carolina's POV

Dammit! Now we lost Damian too. "Nice shot, jackass! Now how are we going to get the sword!?" Felix is very pissed off at that decision.

"You could jump after him." Derek suggested. "The sword's well crafted enough to survive falling and freezing."

"He would have jumped anyway." Daniel added.

"At least we don't have to go digging him up with it." Derek noted.

"Yeah. Just imagine prying that thing from his cold, dead hands." Damian said.

"Well, I'm not digging." Felix asked.

"Then I guess you won't need a tombstone, either." I said.

"Ah shit, he's here." Daniel said.

"Surrender now or be killed." I ordered. With all our loses, if we take them in, we can at least cripple Charon's forces enough that they won't be able to finish us off. Locus would be the only leader left, and he isn't exactly a people person. All their new forces would probably turn on him, trying to get off this planet.

"Well look who it is; Agent Carolina." I really hate that guy. "Uh, which one were you again?"

"Where's your sister? Busy fighting Scar-face?" Daniel asked.

"Let's focus on you, instead." I said. "You're outmatched, and your friends aren't coming to save you."

"Then come and get me." Oh, he thinks his shield's gonna save him? I ran and punched the thing. He slid back before hitting me with the shield.

"Out of all the Freelancer's I fought, your definetly the worst fighter." Felix said.

"I can't believe they let that guy into Project Freelancer." Daniel said. "I thought they were supposed to be best of the best."

"Tell me, Agent Carolina; Where are your friends?" Felix asked.

"Right here!" Tucker and the others. Thank fuck. "Dude, you're surrounded! You've got nowhere to go!"

"Oh, come on. I was hoping one of your Freelancer buddies would come to the rescue." Felix is making me want to throw him off the cliff. "What do you think you can do?"

"We've outsmarted you!" Tucker retorted.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that, Tucker. You see, not many people get the best of me." Oh my fucking god, more monologging. "But no one gets the best of me and lives to tell about it." _This time, he had purpose._ Locus just got here in a Falcon.

"Ohhh, that's—that's bad." Caboose said.

"Affirmative!" Freckles added.

"He was stalling!" Doyle exclaimed.

"No shit!" I yelled.

"And you say I talk too much." Felix said.

"You do." The rest of the Mercenaries noted. They jumped onto the Falcon and retreated.

Oh crap! They have Damian on the Falcon! "Fuck!" I didn't even notice, Derek dissappeared during my confrontation. He jumped and caught him, then had Locus catch them. "Shit!" And he had the sword with him! So everything Damian did was for nothing. And Derek probably knew that would happen when he shot him. "Damn!"

Felix laughed as they flew off. "Sayonara, losers!"

"God damn it!" I am so pissed off right now! I took a rock and threw it at the falcon. I managed to knock someone out of it.

...

West's POV

It's been a few hours. We had a lot of time to relfect. "Sooo, uh... that did not go well." Grif delivered the biggest understatement of the century.

"Yeah."

"Mm-hm."

" It was real bad." Caboose said. "We found Doc." _That might even be the worst part._

"Uh, Yeah." This conversation is going poorly.

"That's technically good." Simmons said.

"If you count me getting my healing unit back as good." I noted.

"Well I had a great time!" Sarge added.

"Yeah. It's not every day you get to drive in slow-motion." Mass agreed. "This was a great day on the battlefield."

"Oh, GOOD FOR YOU!" Kimball yelled.

"Unfortunately, Command can't say the same thing." RHO noted.

"He didn't give me a choice. He wanted me to go back and help lead our armies." Doyle apparently is being blamed for not doing anything to save Damian.

"So you let him give them the power to kill everyone on Chorus?!" Kimball yelled.

"Only if They kill the first person the sword came into contact with." PSI noted.

"Since I took the sword first, that means they'd have to kill me before they can use it." Doyle said.

"Great! So now we'll get to waste valuable men to guard you 24/7!" Kimball shouted.

"Well, you'd have more men if you hadn't led them all into a trap!" Doyle reminded.

"Don't you dareturn this around on me!" Kimball snapped.

"Okay, enough! You two are acting like children!" Wash put a stop to this. It's amazing how much he changed.

"HA-HA! You're immature!" If I still had standards for him, I'd tell him he was less mature than them.

"Dish-duty!" Kimball ordered.

"Fuck!" Grif yelled

"What's done is done. So let's quit focusing on what went wrong and start thinking about what we have now, and what we can start doing." When did Wash turn into such a wise leader?

"How's Church and Carolina?" I asked. We found them a little bit after we picked up everyone else. Turns out North was wrong about them being dead.

"Our dear friend Emily has assured me that Carolina will make a full recovery." Doyle reported. "In no small part thank's to the healing unit your purple friend from the caves was carrying." That's great. _So he didn't manage to break it during his diemension hoping adventure._ "Speaking of which, he'll also be recovering."

"Fuck!" I yelled.

"Can't win 'em all." Simmon's noted. _Wait, wasn't he the one that said saving Doc was good news?_

"I'm more interested in what happened to Epsilon. Carolina's armor suffered complete shutdown." RHO said.

"Up until now, there has never been a single report of equipment related armor failures; Something is wrong with him specifically, and he isn't telling us what." PSI said.

"What do you think it could be?" Mass asked.

"We have compiled a number of theories of what could have caused it." RHO said.

"File corruption caused by forced removal during our first visit to crash site Alpha, Damage caused indirectly by Santa while agent Carolina was being tested, Virge and Cabooses tampering with his memories, and Rampancy are the most probable causes." PSI said.

"I thought fragments were immune to Rampancy." Wash said. I destictively remember Sigma acting weird after that. I'm pretty sure that was when he turned evil.

"Yes. Theoretically. Epsilon isn't a traditional fragment. He is Alpha and the Omega. All the fragments as a single enity, but also a separate one. He is the closest to a complete AI we have." PSI explained. "Which is why we're concerned. We don't know if it's him being fragmented or nearly whole that is causing the problem."

"Sounds kinda like Virge." Tucker noted.

"Speaking of him, which one did we grab?" Sarge asked. North Carolina managed to knock him out of a Falcon.

"We don't know yet. He apparently locked up his armor to make sure we don't take it. We'd have to give him an AI to override it." Wash explained.

"And we know that's a danger risk to take." I added.

"With what we've seen, it's probably Derek; Virge wouldn't have killed Damian." I said.

"I don't know. Killing Damian him to take the sword himself would make it easier to steal from them." Mass noted.

"He'd never. Virge doesn't kill anyone. Just hurt them really, really bad." I know Virge. He's practically my brother!

"He's changed since we got here. You admitted that." Mass is trying to use my words against me?!

"Is Derek anymore likely to shoot his own brother than Virge?" Wash asked. "Both of them are dangerously unpredictable, and to irrationonal to understand. It's more important we figure who's side he's on than argue over whether or not he's who we think he is." Ok, if Wash keeps dooing this, I'm going to lose my mind again.

"Well, if you want my tactical assessment—" Sarge want's to speak.

"We don't." Grif imterrupted.

"It looks to me like we've got to get to the alien-phone-tower-thingy, pronto! Make a collect call to Earth." Sarge continued. "Dial 1-800-Send-ships-and-kill-pirates! Standard text-messaging rates apply."

"Are you done?" Wash asked.

"I'll think of more." The colonel replied.

"Next time we plan, we should have better plan of attack than 'Attack!'." I explained.

"I couldn't agree more." Doyle agrees with me? I think this is the first time in the war room that ever happened.

"Well, we can't just sit here and wait for Charon to attack!" Kimball yelled.

"Why not? It's heavily fortified and the city reactor rules out the risk of aerial bombings. Our alien artifacts are no good to Charon post-explosion, my dear." Doyle replied.

"Then they'll surround us and wait for our supplies to run dry. Jesus, don't you think about any of this?!" Kimball is still pissed.

"So, you suggest we throw Tucker out there to search for the tower? They'll kill him, and then they'll have two Swords!" Doyle noted.

"Hey, I could make it... maybe." Tucker interjected. I wouldn't put money on it if my life depended.

"I don't have all of the answers, General, but I do know that sometimes you have to risk lives if you want to see results. Even your own. Especially your own. You should have been there, protecting Damian, instead of letting him face them on his own because you were too scared to help him!" Kimball ranted. From what I know of Damian (and the Stark's in general), he'd sooner die for his cause, than abandon it. When I'd first met him, he wouldn't have even gone to Armonia to save everyone. He hated them because in his eyes, everyone was his enemy. But when he realized he was just a puppet, his views changed. He realized that they'd all been on the same the whole time. They just didn't know the enemy was right next to them. After he learned the truth, he realized the people of Chorus were dying for. And that's what he did.

"Kimball!"

"This meeting is over." She left.

"Now, we don't have a plan, and the armies might split up." Mass noted.

"Sooo, uh... that didn't really go well either." Grif, Master of understatement.

"She's right, though." And Doyle's leaving too.

"Where are you going?!" Wash asked.

"My quarters. I'm a failure of a General, and apparently a failure of a human being. Should any of you actually need me, you know where to find me." Doyle announced.

"Actually, I don't think you ever told us where your quarters are." Simmons noted.

"Well then, I'm a failure at leaving, too!" Damn, Doyle. Damn.

"Well, shit." Tucker said.

"I say forget the both of them. If they don't want to run this show, then we'll just do it for them." Sarge said. That sounds reasonable. "First order of business: Red uniforms!" Ah, there it is. I was wondering hiw long until he goes against the blues.

"Damian was the glue holding the alliance together. Now that he's dead, they don't have anyone to trust." Mass noted.

"Well, it took us ages before we were able to trust the Blues." Simmons said.

"Yeah, and some of us are still working on it." Grif added. Sarge was resisting the urge to shoot Caboose as we speak.

"We don't have the time to make them start trusting each other." PSI noted.

"We're going to have to find a way, or none of us are getting off this planet." I said.


	12. Group therapy

**Me: My god, they took Damian and the sword. But, the good guys have Derek. Or is he Virge?**

 **Damian: How the fuck do you not know?**

 **Me: I know. I'm just bein' cryptic.**

 **Doc/Omalley: I can't believe you wrote me out of the story. What fool would think to preserve that purple fools sanity?**

 **Me: Since Virge already took Omally for a lot of Doc's time as Omalley, it kinda makes it less likely you'd exist as the split personality.**

 **Doc/Omalley: Anonymous Fanz doesn't own anything except for Virge, West, North Carolina, and all those other fools. His brother owns Mass.**

 **Me: Also, god damn, this is a big one!**

 **...**

Daniel's POV

 _"So what should we expect from these Freelancers?" I asked. "Let's start with Virge."_

 _"Why? Virge. I already killed him." Derek said._

 _"I want to know what was wrong with him." I amswered._

 _"Virge is rather difficult to describe." Price is doing it anyway. "He's a very complex individual who's suffered a great deal of physical and psychological trauma."_

 _"Isn't he the reason your job existed?" I asked._

 _"That is correct. The Director needed me to evaluate his mental condition." He explained. "I discovered he had multiple pyschological disorders. PTED. Narcissism, Night terrors, Pyromania, Paranoia, Schizophrenia."_

 _"You listed them?" Derek asked._

 _"The Director and I used them to manipulate him. While he would appear to be too physchologically unstable for us to use, it was actually quite simple to manipulate him." Price said. "He's prone to trust those he feels earned it. The Director only needed to make him think he was the first person in the Office of Naval Intelligence he could trust to convince him he was on our side."_

 _"When I fought him in the canyon, he meantioned that." Derek said. "He said the Director told him about some early spartan program thing he was secretly placed in."_

 _"This was partially true." Price admitted. "He was in a military experiment authorized by ONI, but not the one he was told. His mental state made altering details simple."_

 _"That Mental Instabilty also made him more comparable to a wild attack dog than a loyal lapdog." Derek answered. "Kinda like Locus."_

 _"Precisely. While he was loyal to us, he would often take agressive actions towards those who could not match his own hypercompetence." Price explained._

...

Virge's POV

"So, are we done with my psycho-analysis?" I asked. I was here for hours, and I don't think we've gotten anywhere. To make things worse, my bed is next to Doc.

"Yep. You have a lot of problems." Grey said.

"We already knew that. That's why we had you analyze him." North C said.

"We're going to try some electroshock therapy!" She exclaimed.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"After you, Handsome." That's the med scanner. The one Charon designed. That probably should have been blown up. I'm not sure if this right here, is good or bad. Either that's Doc's which MIGHT not have been blown up do to his presence outside the universe, or that's a plasma pistol which got mistaken for a med scanner, in which case, I'm about to get superheated and/or electrocuted.

"We're gonna fix you right up, Derek! Where should I stick the thermometer?" Donut's here? This is definitely bad!

"Yeah, I think I'd rather leave." It's not that I don't trust Donut. It's that I don't LIKE Donut.

"We got a runner!" Grey yelled.

...

Daniel's POV

 _"Let's talk about his cousin. She seems to know more than we want her to." Derek said._

 _"Agent West Virginia. Due to her experience with Virge, she understood him better than any other agent." Price explained. "She was tasked with keeping Virge undercontrol."_

 _"So she was like a dog handler." I said._

 _"What are her weaknesses?" Derek asked._

 _"Due to a mission she lead going wrong, due to an attack from Derek, Agent West refuses to accept any position where she may be put in command of others." Price answered. "While she is willing to risk her own life, time and again, she is unable to take responsibilty for others." So, she can't lead._

 _"Wait, you said it was Derek's fault?" I asked._

 _"Correct. Not only were multiple agents killed, but agent North Carolina went missing in action, and a small number of agents deserted the project." Price said. "This was the first mission failure in the project's mission history."_

 _"Apparently, it wasn't the last." Derek noted._

 _"Indeed. She also doesn't take the loss of her teammates well. And Virge is much more than a teammate to her." Price warned. "Based on what I've seen of her recently, there will definetely have long term effects once she learns of Virge's fate." That can't be good._

...

West's POV

"Alright, let's try this again. First, we start with a friendly handshake." Simmon's is trying to test his plan to get the leaders to work together, by beta testing it on some of their men to gather some statistical data, to show who's more likely to be willing to cooperate.

As Palomo and some other guy shook hands, one of them made some weird sound. "Devil man." Palomo said. God damn it, Palomo. He's worse than the other guy I had working for me.

"Did you just spit inside your helmet?" The fed asked.

"Take yourself, and fuck yourself. With yourself." Damn it, Palomo, your just rambling nonsense.

"What?" The Fed asked.

"Exactly." Palomo, what the hell?

"God damn it, Palomo." Tucker said.

"Well, at least they aren't fighting." I said.

"He provoked me!" Palomo insisted.

"You Rebels are all fucking nuts." The Fed said.

"That's impossible! Nuts don't have orifices! Go back to school!" _Based on Palomo's lack of social skills, I'm willing to bet he hasn't received a public education._ That's just sad.

"What about doughnuts?" The fed asked.

"You do know Donut is a guy, right?" PSI asked.

"Wait, what?" Palomo asked. _God damn it, Palomo._

"I'm having a hard time following this conversation." Sarge interjected. Him and Grif were watching.

"You two can just go back to whatever you guys do when your not taking orders." I said. Palomo walked to Tucker before leaving.

"Hey... I thought I was a constant source of disappointment." Caboose said. _We can have more than one._

"It's hard to disappoint once you've lowered everyone's expectations." I explained.

"Oh." Caboose said. "Well I will just have to try harder! SOMEONE GIVE ME A SCREWDRIVER!" Well, he's determined.

...

 _Daniel's POV_

 _"So, who's the big guy?" I asked._

 _"Agent Massachusetts. He was in many ways, the opposite of Virge." Price replied. "Where as Virge was loyal only to the Project, caring more about it than his own life, Massachusetts was more interested in his own goals. He would drop a mission entirely if he believed something else was more important. This behavior caused problems between him and the Director."_

 _"So he's like Felix." I said._

 _"If Felix knew how to shut up." Derek answered._

 _"While he very uncooperative most of my sessions with him. My understanding of his reasoning is that he didn't trust me." Price added. "Likely because of his own lack of trust in the Director. I believe he remained in the project is because of Virge."_

...

West's POV

"Augh! Why is this happening now!? We're in the middle of a fucking war and these guys won't do anything but hate on each other!" Tucker complained.

"The problem isn't with them. It's just with your approach." Grif said.

"What the heck's that supposed to mean?" Sarge asked.

"You can't force people into liking each other. You just gotta lie to them until they think they like each other." Grif said.

"That sounds like a terrible idea." Simmons said.

"No, he's right. I used the same tactic on women a million times!" Tucker claimed.

"This is basic shit. First, we tell Doyle Kimball wants to apologize and meet him for dinner. Then, we tell Kimball that Doyle wants to apologize then invite her to the same restaurant." Grif said.

"You honestly think they won't see that coming? Just about every old sitcom used it as a plot point." I have no faith in this plan.

"And one of those sitcoms was called 'Friends', which is exactly what we want them to be! Case closed!" Grif said. _Flawed logic, but we don't have better plans on the table._

"You watch old sitcoms? Now I know why Virge is friends with you people." I said. _Yes. He trusted them because they are the only ones that share his interest in the twety first century._

"The reason they trusted Damian is because he was on both sides." PSI said. "He understood them. He was the perfect canidate."

"They have to much hostility against us. We need someone they don't even know. Someone that doesn't know them. Someone who's only interest is to destroy Charon." I don't know who that could be.

"Don't taze me Doc!" Virge yelled. What's up with him.

"Running only makes me want you more!" Dr. Grey yelled. Ok, that is the weirdest I've seen her. Yeah, I am going to have to stop her right now.

"Wait a minute, Doc knows stuff about therepy. Maybe he can do something." I said. _I wouldn't bet on it._

...

Daniel's POV

 _"So, what do we know about the Carolina's?" I asked. "They look like the biggest threat."_

 _"One of them is. Or at least, thinks she is." Derek said. So, it's the blue one._

 _"While both were the only leadership specialists, the two Carolina's are very much different." Price is going back to the beginning for this one. "South Carolina leads with assertiveness and shows an example for what the should be. As opposed to her brother, who leads with a more... passive method." Interesting. "He was considered more charasimatic and understanding, due to his higher level of faith in his teammates than in himself."_

 _"To be fair, he is a terrible fighter." Derek said. He fought him twice already, so I can take his word for it._

 _"Though his skill as a leader surpassed that of his sister, his lack of confidence often made him feel useless." Price continued. "He often refused to see himself a true Freelancer because of this."_

...

Mass's POV

"Finally! Some freakin' quiet." Epsilon appeared. "Hey, wanna see if she left her prescription pad?"

"Sure." I said. I would really like to know what kind of Meds Grey's on.

"We need to talk." Buzzkill!

"Oh. Yeah." Church said. "Can we at least do it when your on heavy sedatives?" Yeah, that's probably for everyones safety.

...

Daniel's POV

"Well, North Carolina seems to have grown a pair." I said. I'm watching footage from Sharkface's helmet cam. We made these because Price wanted to study the Reds and Blues up close.

"I believe he may have entered the portal." Price said.

"You pulled that one out of your ass?" I asked.

"His actions seem to be in the defense of his sister." Of he would. "He's afraid that he won't be able to save her from herself."

"Your job is to figure out how to make that nightmare happen." Locus said.

"By continuing to exploit her weaknesses, you can." Price replied.

...

Virge's POV

"What happened to you? You were with me one minute then the next you were gone." Carolina asked. I don't know what that was. It's news to me.

"Alright, I know what you're tryin' to talk about here. Look, sometimes guys my age have performance issues, it's completely natural!" Church said. Oh god, is he rampant?

"Epsilon, I'm serious." South C said.

"Hey, me too! This shit's embarrassing and now I gotta talk to Dr. Grey about getting some pills—" What the Fu—

"Church, what's wrong? I have never seen you act this weird." I said. I swear, if it's Rampancy...

"What? No!" Church is still not answering. "Look, I'm not failing if that's what you're worked up about, but... I have my limits."

"What do you mean?" Carolina asked.

"I mean you can't expect me to run all of your armor equipment at the drop of a hat! I'm not a young, brand new A.I.! I'm just one of the fragments." He explained. I don't get it. You'd need a crap load of different equipment for that to be a problem. How many is she using?

"Look, I'm sorry if I pushed you too far. But we can't use that as an excuse. We're going to need every advantage we can get!" This is why the other Carolina would make a great leader. He understands that there are limits not just on himself, but on others. He knows when something is impossible to ask of anyone.

"Ohh, your right! Would you like some holographic projections too? How about a time distortion while you fight? Or, ooh, we could get you a seat warmer! How about that?" I'm still questioning the Rampancy part.

"Jesus, how many armor mods do you have?!" I asked. I don't think Maine even has that many mods.

"You know what we're up against!" Carolina yelled.

"And you know what happened to the Meta!" Church yelled back. Oh right, he's dead.

"What did you just say?" Carolina asked.

"He kept fighting for more and more power too, and in the end it got him killed." Church finished.

"Oh yeah, I killed him. Threw him off a cliff. With the Car. He almost dragged me with him." I said. Good times.

"Don't you ever talk about Maine like you knew him!" Carolina yelled.

"You didn't see what happened to him." I said. "The power. It consumed him. He wasn't Maine anymore. Just a shadow. And you know why I hate shadows with obsession." The Director. Maine. Derek. Hell, even I was at a point.

"We're just trying to show you how close you're getting to crossing a very dangerous line." Church warned. "You're Agent Carolina! You don't need all this fancy stuff to win! You're already the best!" That's not some Church is used to saying.

"I appreciate the thought, Church. I really do." Carolina said.

"Good, 'cause I am really not all about this sincerity stuff." Church replied.

"But the only reason we survived the radio jammer is because Locus is insane! He could've killed Wash, and they both could've done a lot more!" Carolina shouted. If they were sane, they wouldn't be fighting us.

"You survived because I turned Locus into a rule obsessed shadow of his former self!" I yelled.

"In the gateway, not everyone got off as easy as you did. I went through the gateway that I saw the Freelancers... I had to watch them die." Oh please. "And after they were gone, I saw all of you. ...Wash, Tucker, the Reds and... Church, I can't lose another family.

"You're scared." Doyle showed up. "Er, forgive me. But I'm all too familiar with the feeling."

"What are you doing here?" Carolina asked.

"It's my favorite part of the Capital. Just far enough away from everything. I come here whenever I need a moment. It looks as though you had a similar idea?" Doyle knows this city well. I just came to talk with them. I knew they'd be somewhere quiet.

"Shouldn't you be in the center of town, behind seventy-eight inches of bulletproof everything!?" Church asked.

"Oh, there's all sorts of things we should be doing. We should be prepping our next move against the enemy. But instead we're here, standing around, talking."

"I feel like this conversation is really important." I said.

"You know, I believe it was the great William Shakespeare who said: 'Courage is not the absence of fear. It is acting in spite of it.' I don't believe those words have ever been more relevant." Doyle said.

"I don't think that was Shakespeare." Church noted.

"What?"

"That quote. I don't think he said that."

"Really?"

"Yeah, pretty sure."

"I can't remember who it's from, but they were wise to make that quote." I said.

"Thank you." Doyle said.

"Well, here's to hoping the mercs are just as frustrated as the rest of us." Church said.

...

Daniel's POV

"I... AM EXTREMELY... FRUSTRATED!" I decided to see what's up with Felix's yelling.

"What's the matter Felix? Having trouble keeping the sword up? Happens to everyone. Well, not Tucker." Felix punched Damian in the face.

"If I still had feeling in my face, that might have hurt!" Damian is annoying him. Of course.

"Get a grip." Sharkface said.

"Why isn't it working?!" Felix yelled.

"The key needs somekind of bio imprint. Otherwise, it's useless." I explained.

"I have simpler explanation: You are not worthy!" Damian added.

"I will stab you!" Felix yelled.

"With your powerless sword? Everyone thinks I'm dead, I don't even know why you still want me alive." Damian said.

"Because if Derek didn't kill you, it was for a reason." Grabbed the sword from Felix, and gave it to Damian.

"Sorry, guess you have the wrong guy." Damian shrugged, as it didn't turn on. Felix pointed his gun at me.

"Whoa, same team!" I reminded.

"You won't be once I splatter your brains!" Felix yelled.

"Don't you need a car for that?" Damian asked.

"SHUT UP!" Felix punched him.

"Don't touch him!" I warned, aiming my DMR for his head.

"I'll kill you both if have to!" Felix aimed his own at my head.

"No violence between partners." Locus ordered.

"I thought getting Doyle and Kimball to agree on something was hard." Damian said. "These two here, they might kill each other before Derek comes back."

"I'll kill him too." Felix said.

"You shouldn't underestimate the Stark's." Me and Damian said.

"Okay, that was just creepy. Don't do that." Felix seems to be less agressive now. Can't believe that worked.

"We need to kill general Doyle." Sharkface noted.

"Oh, have you tried hiding in a cave base for several decades?" Damian asked.

"Damian is to fucked up to even help us." Felix said.

"Would you rather Derek shot you in the face or cut open in your guts?" Damian asked.

"He'd do both." I added.

"Control wants Derek back alive. If we kill Damian, he isn't going to be cooperative." Locus said.

"Are you fucking serious?" Felix asked.

"You'd rather have Hargrove come here and get Derek himself?" Sharkface asked.

"I'm pretty sure he Isn't going to give you the Meta's armor when he hears how you lost Derek because you were pissed at us." I said. Felix left grumbling.

...

Virge's POV

"You want to know about my worst nightmare?" I asked. "All my friends are dead because I couldn't save them. In the better ones, it's because I was dead. The worse ones, I'm the one that killed them.

"Is that what you saw in the gateway?" Carolina asked.

"No! When I went, Santa told me I was worthy, then tried to trap me when he realized I was a xenocidal maniac." I said. "I shot myself to get out of there. I saw Locus's vision. Him being turned into what he is because I didn't want to listen to his opinion."

"What happened you?" Church asked.

"I'm the one that reason Locus is who he is. I'm the reason they control crash site Alpha. I'm the reason Derek started fighting Freelancers. I'm the reason project Freelancer exists! Everytime I try to help my friends, one of them goes bad, and I have to kill them." I said. "Locus. The Director. Derek. Maine. Felix. Hell, I even got the Consular working for Charon now."

"Wait, you mean Aiden Price, the guy that knows all the Freelancers inside out?" Church asked.

"In the worst nightmare I ever had, my friends weren't dead. I was." I said. "I died because my friends killed me. Because I turned like evryone else."

"Virge..." Carolina said.

"But you know why I didn't face that nightmare when I entered the gateway? Because I was willing to accept that it can and will happen." I explained. "I didn't fight it. I accepted that it might happen some day. I want you to promise that if that day comes, you will kill me."

"There he is!" Oh, fuck my life.

"Awwwwww crap." I just got tazed! Son of a bastard!

"Donut, bring him back to the medlab." Gray ordered.

"NO! NOT THE MED LAB!" I begged. I hate med labs!

"Oh, and be careful. We don't want to injure him on the way there." Dr. Gray added.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle." God damn you to hell, Donut.

"Heeeeelp meeeeeeee." I whispered as I got dragged away.


	13. Lets talk about this

**Me: So, we learned a lot about my characters last chapter. Virge uses heroism to hide that he's responsible for every evil he's faced. West refused to be a leader during the previous season because of a mission Derek screwed up. North Carolina left because he believed he wasn't good enough for the project despite this being the reason he's a great leader. And Virge used to be like Locus, Felix, and Sharkface combined as one very dangerous psychopath, which is why West was responsible for watching him in the first fanfic. Does it make you want to reread everything I wrote?**

 **Doc: Hey, I'm here again.**

 **Me: Shut up and read my sign, damn it.**

 **Doc: Anonymous Fnz doesn't own anything except for Virge, West, North Carolina, Damian, Derek, and all the other OCs.**

 **me: Good job. Now get fuck out!**

 **...**

West's POV

"So, you think you can just send me to another dimension, forget my very existence, and then expect me to help you when you're in trouble?" Doc asked.

"Yes." Sarge answered.

"Finally! All I ever wanted was to be included." Doc forgave us that easy.

"This is why we don't want to include you. Your a pushover." I said.

"Come on, West! Don't be such a negative nancy." _Seriously? Who still says that?_

"If you had a dog, it would bite off it's leash and get hit by a car." I retorted.

"Hey, I had a dog that did that." Simmons added.

"Surprising no one." Grif noted.

"Thereyou are! What hell have you all been doing?" Wash asked.

"Oh, just a little thing we like to call saving the planet!" Tucker replied.

"We've got Kimballs men threatening to leave, and Doyle's men locking them in. What have you been doing to stop them from fighting?" Mass asked.

"Relax. We've found the solution to everybodies problems." I said.

"And what would that be?" Wash asked.

"An honest and down-to-earth counseling session!" Doc answered.

"The fuck?" Mass asked.

"Remember when we had all those Freelancers threatening to leave because they didn't want to die after a certain mission went wrong?" PSI asked.

"I remember Virge beating the crap out of them." Mass replied.

"Well, the Director had the counselor work with them to get them to stay." PSI answered. "You know, those sessions you refused to take."

"Point is, we're using Doc to do the same thing." I said.

...

Mass's POV

"A counseling session. Just you two and your closest friends, here to talk and support you." Doc explained to Kimball and Doyle.

"This is a waste of time." Kimball said.

"I concur." Doyle agreed.

"See, you're already agreeing on things! The system works!" Doc exclaimed. _Didn't the same system make Virge worse when he had Omalley?_ Yes. "Okay! Let's start things off with a little roleplay, shallwe?" Wait, what?

"Yeah! Dibs on police officer!" Wait a minute, Donut's done this before? When did he— _In the canyon. After West shot him._ Oh yeah. She did that. Now that you mention it, I've only seen Donut when Doc was around before that other dimension bullshit.

"What?" Simmons asked.

"C'mon, don't be shy!" Doc said. _I really don't trust him._ "Look, it's easy! Grif, why don't you pretend to be me, and I'll pretend to be you!" Yeah, we might have to shoot him.

"Uhhh... Hey, everybody, look at me, I'm Doc." Grif is doing a terrible inpersonation. "Uh, I don't like being shot at and no one respects me."

Sarge started laughing. "It's everything I wanted to hear." _This is going to go pretty slowly._

...

Damian's POV

"How are you doing?" Danny came to visit me!

"At this point, I'm eighty percent sure my eye got blinded, but who gives a fuck, I'll just get a new robot eye." I said. "Maybe this one will have lasers so I can shoot people by looking at them!"

"Yeah, I don't know exactly what up with Derek." Danny said. "Hell, I'm not completely sure that was Derek."

"I think you'd know." I replied.

"Virge is very good at impersonating Derek. The two were already very similar." Daniel replied.

"You know the truth. Your just afraid of what it means." I answered. Danny left. Know to sit around in an isolated prison cell. If the walls weren't already scratched, I would start making some.

...

West's POV

"Tucker, when you call me names like stupid, and 'really stupid', it makes me feel sad." Caboose explained. _Yeah, the demonstration is taking way to fucking long._

"Perfect! Now you, Tucker." Doc instructed.

"Caboose, when you volunteered us to demonstrate 'speaking our feelings', it made me _,_ feel like hitting you, in the goddamn mouth." When Doc started this session, it made me feel like shooting Donut in the face just for bringing him on the planet. _And you already did that._

"Yes. Well, now I feel sadder." Caboose said. "Um, are we doing this right?"

"Right as rain!" Doc reassured.

"Oh! Good! Well then NOW I FEEL HAPPY AGAIN! I LOVE COUNSELING!" Caboose exclaimed.

"Don't we all?" Doc asked.

"No." I said.

"Okay, now it's your turn!" Finally.

"I'm sorry, but how much longer—" Doyle was not allowed to finish that sentence.

"Ah ah! Kimball has the speaking ball right now!" Jesus fucking christ, Doc!

"Doc, this isn't going to work." Kimball said.

"Well, not with that attitude." Doc replied.

"Attitude isn't our problem, it's a complete and total breakdown in cooperation." Kimball explained.

"Well, cooperation is a two-way street, Ms. Kimball." _True. If one isn't willing to cooperate, no one can._

"If you want to stay in this death trap of a city, that's fine. But don't think for a second that I'm letting you bring down the New Republic with you." Kimball declared.

"Leaving is suicide! You need us just as much as we need you! If you run off now, you'll doom us all!" Doyle reminded.

"I'd rather die trying something than waste another second standing around here!" Kimball yelled.

"Kimball—"

"I HAVE THE SPEAKING BALL!" Oh god.

"I think she just lost her mind." I quietly warned everyone.

"And you know what? I'm done talking. I'm ready for action." Kimball started walking away.

"W-wait! P-p-please! Look, can't you just say _one_ nice thing about the other person!? Something...? Anything!?" Doc begged.

"I always imagined you as a tyrant. A mad man bent on absolute control. Now I see I was wrong. You're just a stubborn, incompetent man, and I don't know what's worse." Kimball said.

"Oohh, that's burn." God damn it, Donut!

"Do you know what yourproblem is, Vanessa? You're far too eager to die for your beliefs." Doyle explained. "When you felt your government had betrayed you, you stood against it. When your leaders fell before you, you took their place, and now when we are at our most vulnerable, you want to fight. I can honestly say that..." Doyle paused. "I've never met a more courageous individual in all my life."

"What?"

"I wish...I wish I had tenth of the courage that you possess." Doyle said. "Maybeif I did, Damian could have been here in my place. But, I don't. And I'm afraid. Not just for myself, but for my people."

"They're my people too." Kimball added.

"Which is precisely why we should be working to save them." Doyle said.

"You think some cheap compliments are going to win me over?" Kimball asked.

"Why do you insist on fighting me!?" Doyle asked.

"You to just have to—" WHO THE FUCK INTERRUPTED ME! I SWEAR TO GOD IF IT'S ANOTHER CAR WRECK, THERE WON'T BE A GARAGE IN THE ARMORY ANYMORE!

"Uhh, what was that?" Grif asked.

"General Kimball, we're under attack!" Smith reported. _They're either desperate, dumb, or don't want to listen to their boss. We have all their_ _alien shit. There's no way Hargrove would let them risk an attack here._

"That's impossible. They'd never risk a bombing run!" Doyle noted.

"Uh, they're actually not." Smith explained.

"It's raining men! Hallelujah, Amen!" And now Virge has hijacked the coms so he can make outdated refrences. Great.

...

Daniel's POV

"Price, let's talk." I want this over with as quickly as possible.

"Is there something in particular you wish to understand?" He asked.

"Virge. What do you know about his changes after Project Freelancer fell?" I asked.

"After he left the Project, he started impersonating Derek during his assignment on Chorus. I believe he did this with help from Agent Connecticut, but no one was able to ask her before Agent West shot her to death." Damn Freelancers. They killed more of each other than Derek did.

"Do you think he changed at some point between then and when he returned to Chorus?" I asked.

"It would appear so. Noticably, after meeting the simulation troopers, he became significantly different from anything I've seen of him." Of course. "He was able to trust them and even showed loyalty. While he had done this to the Director, after the Projects collapses, he became extremely distrusting."

"Why did he trust them?" I asked.

"This is difficult to determine. Little is known about his connection to them. Perhaps it's because they are incapble of turining on them. Or because if they do, they aren't a threat to him. Most likely, he sees himself in them." What the hell?

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"While they have failed in the past, they do mean well. Together, they accomplished more than he ever could alone." Price answered. "They defeated the Meta. They located the Director. They united the armies of Chorus. Virge never could have done these things by himself."

"They changed him." I said.

"Indeed. They seem to have inspired him to continue living." Price confirmed. "He wanted an end to his story. But each chapter of his life was followed by another one. But after he met them, he became less concerned with the ending, and more with what he does in the story."

"Based on what you know about Derek, how similar are the two?" I asked.

"Derek after he was impersonated is much more like Virge before the Project was launched." Price explained. "His primary motive was revenge. It was an obsession. He wanted to kill Virge more than Virge wanted to be killed."

"I noticed." I said.

"After killing Virge, he seems to have become more passive." Price said.

"What happened when Virge got what he was looking for?" I asked.

"He didn't. He came close, but it turned out it was too late." Price answered. "He wished to rescue a teammate that gave her life to complete her mission. This appears to have haunted him up until his return to Chorus."

"What do you think happened?" I asked.

"I believe before the Director died, Virge learned something about the mission he was sent on. But whatever it was he learned could not be found in the Freelancer's files." Price explained. "However, I did find a recording in his helmet that was of interest."

"What was on that recording?" I asked

"It showed the same lost teammate talking to someone holding the camera. I suspect this may be what the Director gave Virge." Price amswered.

"What's so important about the recording?" I asked.

"Unclear. I thought he'd already learned everything on it when the Project fell." Price said.

"But after he saw it, he started acting the same way Derek was after he killed him." I said.

"I believe the recording gave him some form of closure. What he had learned from it made it possible for him to live with his mistakes." Price replied.

"Do you think Derek might be Virge?" I asked. A dangerous question, but an important one.

"I do not believe there would be a personality difference. Both of them have accomplished their missions. They no longer have their obsessions with their failures haunting them. But we shouldn't concern ourselves with the fate of Virge. He is dead afterall." There is a difference between the two. And now I know what it is.

...

Arizona's POV

I'm not exactly sure what we found, but now we're going somewhere else. "Who do you think this guy is?" Colorado asked.

"He knows a lot about Derek and Virge. Probably an ex-Freelancer." Kentucky said.

"Look familar to you, Utah?" I asked.

"There's something I know about him, but I can't rememember what." Utah said.

"Will Mex ever contribute to our conversations?" Colorado asked. Mex stared blankly. "I guess not."


	14. This is how the story ends

**Me: I promised I'd give you both parts of Armonia as one megachapter, and your gonna get it! And it's gonna be the best chapter so far!**

 **Doyle: Anonymous Fanz doesn't own anything except for his Original Characters. His brother owns Agent Mass.**

 **...**

Utah's POV

"Anyone else thinking this guy is leading us nowhere." Colorado asked. I'm not sure if I can trust this guy, but I know I know him from somewhere. I just don't know where.

"It is a possibility." Arizona replied. I don't think so. There's a point to this.

"Do you think Virge is dead?" Derek asked.

"Why do you care? If he wasn't, you'd just kill him yourself." I said. The only thing I want is payback for what the Project did to me. I know he's about as much a victim as I am. Hell, he's been through more than any other Freelancer. They don't call him the First Freelancer for nothing. He's been manipulated by the Director before the Project had Freelancers. But the New Director has what I need to stay out of that hospital, so if I have to kill Virge to stay alive, so be it. It's not like he ever cared about his life.

"That's why I'm here." Derek replied.

...

Mass's POV

Well, this should be a good fight at least. "I thought you guys said we were safe at the Capital!" Simmons yelled.

"I never thought they'd be so bold! Th-they'd take too many casualties!" _So he didn't count on the mentally unstable mercenaries being unstable maniacs._

"I think they're more interested in getting a sword than the amount of men they lose to get it." I said.

"Then sounds like we gotta make sure they lose all their men!" Colonel Sarge declared. He's starting to become my favorite.

"Yeah, fuck this counsiling crap!" West yelled.

"Aw, but I worked so hard on it." Doc whined.

"Let's get out there and stick it to 'em, gang!" Donut yelled. He ruined it.

"Hold up." Oh, Church want's to talk. "Um,I got a better idea, but... you're probably not gonna like it." This is a great plan! Sure, lots of people are gonna die, but that's what soldiers do. Die making sure there's more of the other team waiting for them in hell.

"Can't be much worse than the current one." Fuck you, Grif!

"It's like Kimball said, the Capital's a death trap... but not for us." As long as people die...

...

North Carolina's POV

"What are you doing? We've got patients to save!" We're under attack. Why are they shooting in a hospital? Where the fuck did Virge go? Why won't anyone trust me with a gun. I only tried to shoot my sister in the face because I thought I was losing my mind. I'm fine now, I FUCKING SWEAR!

"Ahh, my arm!" Some guy yelled.

"Oh, so now human limbs are a badthing!" Grey snarked.

"You should have upgraded to robot arm! They're stronger and they don't feel pain." I just did product placement. Hey, I gotta get payed too!

Hey, the guys shooting at us are dead. "I think that these guys... are gonna need a hospital." God damn it, Palomo.

"Just, no." Bitters said.

"Come on, we need to get everyone out of here." Smith ordered.

"What are you talking about?" Grey asked.

"Didn't you hear? We're evacuating!" Jensen explained.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"General's orders. We're abandoning Armonia. Warthogs, pelicans, whatever can get us out of the Capital." Smith answered.

"What about the fucking army?" I asked.

"Well, the mercs just dropped all of their men right into the city." I doubt that's all of them. With how big that ship they stole was, there's bound to be more.

"A city that just so happens to have a very powerful nuclear reactor." _But Nuclear Warfare is illegal!_

"And, if we blow up the reactor..." _We're all going to jail._

"We blow up everything Charon has to throw at us." I still doubt it's everything. There is no way they'd risk everyone on this.

...

Daniel's POV

"RUN YOU FUCKING SHITS!" I don't like these people. I don't think anyone in our family liked this planet. That's why me and Derek jumped at the chance to kill everyone. We would have recruited Damian, but apparently, he doesn't like mercenary work.

"Anyone got eyes on the target?" Someone asked.

"Negative. No Doyle, just the regular expendable cowards." I said.

"Then let's pick up the pace! I want that kill bonus." Like I'm gonna hurry up so he can steal my kill. I'mma get that kill and the sword, then I'm gonna cleanse the shit outta this planet. Cause fuck this planet.

...

Mass's POV

"You know, I always wanted to be popular as a kid." Tucker said. I can't really sympathise there; I was popular as a kid.

"As did I." Doyle replied. _I can sorta remember what Virge remembers of being popular. Being in his head, I've seen his memories. It's not that diffrent from being famous._

"Is it just like you imagined?" Donut asked.

"No." Doyle answered.

"Kinda." Tucker answered. _Yeah, having people want to kill you and people protect you is part of being popular._ But his case is kinda a inverse on the kill/love ratio. _So he's more infamous that famous._

"Alright, we made it to the Armory." Simmon's reported.

"Good." Carolina said.

...

West's POV

"There should still be a Pelican docked in the garage. Load up as many supplies as you can then get Tucker and Doyle out of the city. We'll take care of the reactor's manual overload." Carolina responded.

"Be ready to come pick us up once you're done." Wash said.

"Are you sure there is no other way? Armonia is our home!" Doyle asked.

"We'll build a new one. Right now, you need to focus on staying alive." Kimball said. _Yeah, we can always build a New Armonia. Maybe add some statues of the heroes who didn't make it out of this war alive._ I think Damian would have liked that idea.

"Meanwhile, we should focus on that Reactor." PSI said.

"How far are we from it, anyway?" I asked.

"It's gonna be a while. These tunnels wind all over the place." Church answered.

"Well, at least they keep us off the streets and out of trouble." Carolina said.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Oh shit, a pirate! Everyone fired at him, but apparently he stole my fucking shield! Why can't these Pirates borrow some active Camo for once! It's always hard-light shields with them! What the fuck!

"I don't think so." Who the hell is this guy?

"I really, really hate this guy." Church said.

"We don't have time for this." Wash said.

"Don't worry... I'm the one he wants." Carolina said. _Ah, this is a smart tactical decision. But is it being made out of strategy, bravery, or foolishness. Or some combination of the three?_ "If I stay will you let them go?"

"Huh. Deal. But once you're dead, I'm coming after you both!" He's looking at me?

"What the hell did I do?" I asked.

"You helped him get burried under a one hundred foot tall building." PSI answered.

"I don't remember that. Wait, was he the guy with the bomb?" I asked.

"No." Psi and Sharkface over there answered.

"That one guy that shot Maine in the throat?" I asked.

"No." They repeated.

"Uh, that dick with the flamethrower?" I asked.

"Yes." Sharkface said. Oh. Wait, I didn't even do anything that fight. All I did was shoot at the ceiling with the worst weapon of all time. Bounces on floors but explodes on ceiling? Who designed that crap? _Aliens._ Huh. _You realize your standing in the tunnel alone, right?_ Wait, what?

...

Mass's POV

"Ammo?" Sarge asked.

"Check." Simmons confirmed.

"Machine guns?" Colonel asked.

"Check." Caboose is carrying that thing.

"Rocket launchers?" Colonel asked.

"Chhheeeeckk." I said, loading the damn thing. I was waiting for him to say that just so I could do that one badass part.

"Advanded AI, Check!" Rho reported.

"Shotgun!" I called.

"Check!" Sarge reported.

"Uh guys, remember those bad guys from earlier? Well, they're coming back." Donut warned.

"Grif, what's the status on our Pelican?" Sarge yelled.

"I don't know! Every time I turn it on it just makes a loud clunking sound." Grif answered.

"Sounds like something's inside the ship that shouldn't be there." Rho said.

"God damn it. Where's Lopez when you need him?" Grif asked. "Wait a minute, where is Lopez?" _Probably with an evacuation group. It's the smart thing to do since sticking around a city we're gonna nuke is a bad idea._

"Uhh...last I saw him, he was in the garage." Simmons said. _Oh. God damn it._

Tucker yelled some spanish shit as more rumbling came from inside the pelican. "Oh, shit." Grif realized what happened. An angry Lopez yelled from inside of the Pelican. "Lopez is stuck in the pelican!"

"So get him out!" I yelled.

"They're coming in!" Donut yelled. _That's what she said._

"Quick, everybody hide!" Simmon's yelled. God damn it, I want to kill someone.

"We could be killing people right now." Hey, I know thet guy. It's Dan, my old friend.

"Listen, all I'm saying is if we grab a warthog we can cover more..." What the hell are they doing? You can see parts of them easily. CABOOSE ISN'T EVEN HIDING! He's just looking away. And did Grif build a motherfucking snowman? Forget not having time to build it! Where the hell did he even get snow? I'm on top of the pelican, where they can't see me because this thing is fucking huge.

"Damn it! We suck at hiding." Simmons said. I jumped on Dan.

"Suprise motherfucker." I punched him while he was on the ground. Then i smacked his one buddy with the rocket launched, and punched the other one in the face, sending him flying towards the ceiling.

"Hah! Enjoy your 'got killed bonus' A-hole!" Dan yelled.

"Long time, no see, Dan. I thought they had you executed." I said, helping him up.

"Mass. You really think they'd kill me? Not while Derek's alive!" Dan replied.

"Right now, I'm not too sure which one is." I noted.

"I am. Took me some time, but I know the diffrence." Dan said.

"Who the hell is this?" Sarge asked.

"Remember the old friend I mentioned. This is him. Turns out he's not dead. He's just an asshole." I said.

"Haha, fuck you." Dan said.

"Isn't that the mercenary that brought Charon's reinforcements." Doyle asked.

"Yeah. I'm also the guy that's bringing good news. Damian isn't dead." Daniel said. "Charon took him prisoner because they thought he had the swords imprint."

"But he got shot. North—" I didn't get to finish.

"Virge shot him in the eye. He's blind, not dead." Daniel said.

"Hostile forces approaching." Freckles warned.

"Oh, god! They know!" Simmons is panicking.

"Wash, status update!" I requested.

"Haven't made it yet. We ran into Sharkface." Wash reported.

"What?!" Doyle asked.

"Carolina's got him busy. We're almost at the reactor." West replied.

"Well, hurry. We got Charon headed our way." I said.

"Don't worry. If anyone is getting the kill bonus, it's gonna be me." Daniel said. "And I don't plan on collecting."

"We also have news. Damian's brother Daniel has defected to our side." I said.

"Great. Maybe he can lead the army for us." PSI responded. _Probably sarcastically._

"Speaking of leaders, he also reported that Damian isn't dead. Charon kept him alive because they believed he had the sword imprint." I noted.

"Damian? Is he still alive?" Kimball asked.

"Probably. Charon can't exactly risk killing him because they don't know if Derek or Virge is the one you captured. If it's Derek, killing Damian means they lose him as an asset." Daniel reported.

"Then I should probably be Derek." Virge is back on the coms.

"Where the fuck have you been?" West asked.

"You know. Getting psychoanalyzed. Cross Electroshock therapy off the list of treatments I've recieved." Virge answered.

"As much as I love camping, we should probably get going." I said. Caboose is killing everyone that gets to the front door. That is one overpowered aimbot.

"Yo, Simmons. What's the deal with Lopez?" Tucker asked.

"Got the last piece out now." Simmons replied.

"Thank goodness. Is he ok?" Doc asked.

"He's just fine." Grif grunt as Lopez strangled him. I know because that's what he's probably pissed off.

"Sounds like it's time to vamanos. C'mon, let's book it." Sarge ordered.

"Just so you know, I get very motion sick." Donut warned.

"Try not to drown in your helmet." RHO warned.

"Wait. Wait! If the pirates know we're on board the Pelican, what's to keep them in the city for the explosion?!" Doyle asked. Yeah, we did not think that far into the plan.

"What?" Dan asked.

"I mean they'll just come after us. We'll lose our home, we'll lose everything for nothing!" Doyle said.

"What explosion?" Daniel asked.

"The plan was to nuke Armonia while they're looking for him. But they found him." RHO explained.

...

Damian's POV

"Hey guys? I just captured Doyle. Meet me at the reactor for evac." Daniel reported on his coms.

"Just kill him so I can get the sword already!" Felix rushed. He really wants to sword fight Tucker.

"Why? He's a coward. Making him cleanse the place isn't much harder than killing him." Danny said.

"Then do it." Locus ordered. He just wants to cleanse the planet and get this shit over with.

"And then give you guys a sword to backstab me with? No deal!" Daniel yelled. Nice.

"I will kill Damian." Felix said.

"Trust me. You don't want to do that." Derek warned. Aw, he really does care.

"Yeah! You don't go messing with the Stark's, bitches!" I yelled.

"I will shoot you!" Felix warned.

"Amd you'll lose alll Virge's secret alien weapons." Derek said. "I personally think the Hammer of Virge is more threatening than anything you got on this planet. And I'm willing to destory this planet as retaliation."

"Escalation, motherfucker." I said. "You have the key to a doomsday weapon, but he has doomsday weapons on call."

"Send Damian to the reactor. Then, we start talking about that sword." Daniel said. This is a mexican standoff of gambits.

...

North Carolina's POV

I am not letting my sister die. There they are. My sister and Sharkface having round three. "Hey, Sharkface. Remember me?" I asked. "Carolina, get to extraction."

"What are you..." I wasn't going to let her finish.

"Now! I got this." I threw one punch at Sharkface. He blocked it. I headbutted him and threw another punch. My sister jumped onto a monorail and left.

"You're gonna wish you stayed out of this." Sharkface warned.

"Only thing I wish was that I was there to see you get buried." I said.

...

West's POV

"How many safety regulations am I violating right now?" I asked.

"All of em'." PSI answered.

"We should hurry incase Charon decides to take Daniel's offer." Wash warned.

"Wait! This is our chance. We can ambush them and rescue Damian and Doyle." Kimball said.

"Not a bad plan, but it's too risky. There's no guarantee we'll have time to get out. We can't risk all three leaders on this." I said.

"She's right. It's a risk we can't afford." Wash agreed.

"Leave it to Virge. He'll get them out." I assured. I know he will.

"We got the pelican ready. How long until this place goes nuclear?" Mass asked.

"I'd give it five minutes, after that the autodetonate goes off." PSI said.

"That's not enough time!" Kimball yelled. "They'll never get Damian out in time."

"Well, we don't have time to pick them up either." Wash said.

"So what? We just leave them to out run the blast?" Kimball asked.

"If we go to save them, we won't have enough time to make it out of the city." RHO warned.

"Not to mention this ship is already over capacity as it is." Simmon's said.

"Yeah, and I am not sharing a seat with anybody." Grif said.

"Then who's going to make sure they make it out alive?" Kimball asked.

...

Damian's POV

"Alright. We'll give you Damian. If you give us Doyle." Locus said.

"Sounds like a fair trade." Daniel said. I didn't sacrifice myself for the guy so he could be used as a bargaining chip. God damn it, Doyle.

...

North Carolina's POV

"You think you can win." He kicked me through a window. "Even if you escape, you have no where to run, no where to hide from the purge."

"You think you have us trapped on this planet? That at the right time this wil end with you blowing us all to hell?" I asked.

"Hey, Two-face! We need you at the reactor. Derek and Daniel are starting to annoy me a little to much." Felix ordered over the coms.

"So, how long until they turn on you?" I asked.

"As long as I kill you sister, I don't care." He said.

"Single minded devotion to revenge. You and Derek should hang out. Too bad he's dead." I said.

"What are you talking about?" Sharkface lifted me against a wall.

"You ever asked Derek about Virge?" I asked.

...

Virge's POV

 _"Well, it's a long way to the temple." I said. "You have anything you want to ask me."_

 _"No." Sharkface answered._

 _"I remember when I used to be in your position." I replied. Nostalgic feelings of the old Freelancer days are coming to me now._

 _"When you wanted to kill Virge." Sharkface said._

 _"No. Ironically, it was because I wanted to save someone." I said. "I tried to save her, but ultimately. It was never an option."_

 _"You're not Derek." Sharkface said. Well, he's perceptive._

 _"No, I'm not." I said. "But I am someone that can sympathize with you." I took off my helmet. "I got blown up, buried a pile of dead friends and foes and nearly froze to death in an icy puddle of my own blood." Worst experience of my life. I can never stop reliving it. And my face is living proof. "_ _Trust me. Revenge ain't worth crap. I murdered trillions of aliens, but I didn't get any satisfaction out of it." I said. "What you're looking for is closure. Something to help you cope with knowing you only survived because you're slightly stronger than your friends, who died because you weren't strong enough to save them." Sharkface pulled out his flamethrower. "Go ahead. Burn me. Tell Charon the truth about me. But will that bring your friends back? Will it help you live with yourself?" He closed the weapon._

 _"I'm killing you last." He said. Not sure what that means in terms of what he's thinking, but I guess it's good for now._

 _"Maybe one day, you can be like me. But until then, stick with the revenge thing. See if it works for you." I said. "For some people, it's enough to kill the killer of their friends." I explained. "But if you're like me, then it won't be enough. You might never find what your looking for, but don't let anyone use your lust for revenge to control you. They will turn on you."_

...

North Carolina's POV

Sharkface is trying to strangle me to death. Cities gonna blow and I'm stuck here. Guess this is how I end. "Surpise, motherfucker!" Or not. Sharkface got knocked across the room by West. "Get off your ass."

"Cut me some slack. I just got it handed to me." I replied. The pelican landed outside. Time to go.

...

Damian's POV

"Are we there yet?" I asked.

"Be quiet!" Locus yelled. These guys suck.

"You guys suck." There, I said it!

"You are making this really difficult." Felix said.

"You could just kill me." I said. "Oh wait, you can't. Then Derek would leave, and you get no alien key!" He can't touch me!

"You little!" OW, HE TOUCHED ME!

"Felix!" Locus is the one with the leash now? I think losing to the Reds and Blues might have caused him to snap. I doubt he still has his acting skills.

"Haha! He's yelling at you!" Messing with Felix is so easy!

"You stop talking!" Oh, he's pointing his gun at me. Crap.

"You know, firing a gun in a nuclear reactor is pretty fucking dangerous." Danny! "One bullet and, BOOM! you've nuked Armonia."

"Send Damian here, and we'll give you Doyle." Derek said.

"What made you think we were actually going to give him to you?" Felix asked.

"We want Damian alive. You want Doyle dead." Derek replied. "We can give each other what we want, or we can fight over what we don't have."

"Or we can just shoot Doyle now." Felix said.

"Great idea. But if you fuck up the trade, you lose the only guy capable of finding Virge and his secrets." Daniel said. "Hargrove wouldn't approve of that. It would worse than losing every weapon he's built."

"Virge is the only person capable of rebuilding Hargroves weapons. I know where he is." Derek said.

"You see. This is why we can't trust that guy." Felix said.

"Derek, stand down." Locus ordered.

"Or what? You can't kill him, your boss needs him!" I reminded. "There is no way you win this. He holds all the cards. If he dies, he wins. If he lives, he wins. If he loses, he still wins!"

"Just give us Damian." Daniel said.

"Where is Doyle?" Locus asked.

"Better question. Why are we here?" Derek said.

"Are you joking?" Felix asked.

"No, why are we in this specific location? The nuclear reactor." Derek explained.

"It's a trap!" Sharkface comes out of nowhere yelling star wars references? What the fuck is this. "The reactor is set to blow." Oh shit!

"Spoilers!" I yelled. Daniel and Derek started firing. Locus took cover while Felix used his shield. I simply ran to them. I don't have a weapon and my hands are cuffed, but my legs still work.

Virge's POB

"So, what's the escape plan?" Damian asked. The mercs took their chopper and left.

"That was the escape plan." Daniel explained.

"Oh. So we're fucked." Damian replied.

"Yep." I answered. Sucks. "Guess we can just take out the reactor. Blow it up faster. Maybe take the merc's with us."

"Worth a try." Me and Daniel started shooting the thing. We are gonna blow up. Well, it was nice knowing people. But this, I guess this is how the story ends. Maybe the Reds and Blues win when this is over. The war ends because the Mercs got nuked with us. I don't know how the epilogue goes because I'm not in it. All I know is that this is the way it ends. The way I always wanted to end. Dying so others can live. Being a hero. It's everything I ever wanted. And I am glad I finally made it to this point. If I could change anything that happened in this story, I'd leave it exactly as it was. Because it's perfect. I did some dark stuff in the past, but in the end, I always tried to help people. I couldn't save everyone, but I always helped the ones I could. That's just what I do. Even if it's someone that didn't deserve it, like Derek, or someone who never needed it, like Carolina. When people remember my story, they're going to know me as the Hero of Chorus who gave my life so that this planet would be free from Charon's armies and never have to fight another war. That's what I do. Risk my life for others. Fight evil. Help people. And now, I finally did it right.


	15. This is not how the story ends

**Me: I don't expect the knew season to confirm who survived season 13, but I do know that I've still got two chapters left of this fanfic.**

 **Virge: But I'm dead. What more could there be?**

 **Me: Nothing short of a nuclear explosion has killed you before.**

 **Virge: YOU USED A NUCLEAR EXPLOSION!**

 **Unknown: He changed a few things. Sharkface was not killed with you. Carolina was.**

 **NC: What?! My sister died! While Virge isn't dead?**

 **Me: He didn't say that.**

 **Unknown: Anonymous Fanz. He owns nothing but the OCs. That includes myself.**

 **NC: Who are you?!**

 **...**

 **Derek's POV**

Here we are. The final destination. A giant nuclear crator. The mystery man "left us to contemplate".

"If Virge is dead, who the hell is using the hammer?" Utah asked.

"Virge once told me nothing short of a nuclear blast would kill him." I said. And I doubt that was enough.

"How does someone survive a nuke? Cockroaches are barely able to do that." Colorado is asking the right question. Virge surviving is impossible. And yet, Virge being dead completely contradicts what we were sent here for.

"When's the last time you've been off this planet?" Arizona asked.

"When I got here." Vague answer.

"Virge dropped off the grid after the nuke went off. Because everyone thought he died and had no idea how to find him." I explained.

"But what's his real goal? He intentionally risked blowing himself up, and found a way to not do it." Colorado noted.

"Not like Virge could just teleport out." Utah added. Maybe someone else could. Someone I thought was dead.

...

 **South Carolina's POV**

I immediately saw a flash of light, and assumed we were all dead. I was dead wrong. We're in another alien temple. Virge and Damian were laughing as if something funny just happened.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"It's the temple of teleportation. We used it to make the 'future cubes'." Virge explained. Now we know where those came from.

"And why are we here?" Daniel asked.

"I brought you five here." Who is that? That armor looks familiar. The voice is too disguised for me to recognize.

"And just who the fuck are you?" Church asked.

"I am a ghost, just like you." The mysterious person answered.

"And what do you want with our ghost?" Damian asked.

"I have plans for you." What are these plans.

"We'd love to help you, but our friends need our help." I said.

"I can help them too. But you will owe me a debt. You will repay it." I'm not sure whos side he's on.

"What's up with the Haiku speak." Virge asked.

"My brain is impaired. I am forced to speak this way. It is not my choice." A brain injury did this to him?

"Another Batman Villian." Daniel commented.

"You must be split up. You will need to be everywhere. If you want to help." Is that another energy sword? That explains how the temple was activated.

Another flash of light appeared. And we were gone.

...

 **Daniel's POV**

I hate this teleporting. I can't believe Derek downsized this into armor equipment. Where am I now? "Daniel? Damian?" Oh. Crash site Bravo. West Virginia is talking to me.

"How the fuck are you not dead?" Tucker asked.

"We were teleported by someone." I answered. I have no idea who that was.

"Teleported? How?" North Carolina asked.

"One of the temples. The one the Future Cubes came from." Damian explained.

"The others were with you?" Washington asked.

"Yes. But the person that saved us split us up. Said we needed to be everywhere in order to help you." I explained. The others could be anywhere on Chorus.

"Chances are Charon's mercs thinks your dead." Mass noted. True. No one could have expected that random save.

"Whoever it was that saved you, he probably knows exactly where you need to be to help us most." West added. Which means I'm needed here.

"What's the status since the explosion?" Damian asked.

"After the city blew up, we were able to use your deaths—" Washington explained.

"Well, mostly Damian's death." Tucker interrupted.

"To convince the men to work together." Washington finished. That's good to know. They'll be harder for the others to kill. Most of our new recruits are disorganized. Hell, some of our veterans are disorganized.

"I live to see Chorus at peace! If only I could see it with both eyes." Damian commented.

"Yeah, it's probably best if everyone thinks your still dead." West noted.

"So where do you think they sent the other two?" I asked.

...

Virge's POV

Next time I see this new guy, I'm punching him in the face. He teleported me and Carolina onto the enemy ship.


	16. Going into sudden death overtime

**Me: The mystery man seems to have an agenda.**

 **Virge: Why do people with agenda's keep pulling me out of the fire?**

 **Me: He also has an alien sword/key. This guy probably did some stuff.**

 **Virge: How can you not know what he's done?**

 **Me: I work in mysterious ways.**

 **Price: Anonymous Fanz does not any characters, except for the original characters he created. He does not need me to remind you, but he does like typing these messages.**

 **...**

 **Virge's POV**

Now, I'm inside a prison cell on a prison ship. Why? Because we were teleported onto an enemy ship by a masked man with an energy sword. What does he want? I have no idea, but he needed the four of us for it. And now, it's just me and Carolina. Waiting to find out what the band of pirates and criminals plan to do to us.

Sharkface, a few minutes earlier than I expected. "You're here to kill me?" I asked.

"You killed my friends." Sharkface answered.

"Technically, my friends killed your friends." I reminded.

"You could have saved them." He noted. True.

"If we're just killing everyone that failed to save them, then I guess Hargrove should be on top of your hitlist." I replied. "He's just as guilty as I am."

"What are you talking about." Like he hasn't pointed a gun at me before. "And don't say they picked the wrong side."

"He was on the Oversight committee. He knew the Director was up to something. But instead of shutting him down, he monitered the situation." I explained. "Hargrove didn't have the authority to shut him down, so he had some watch us."

"I know what Derek did." Sharkface growled.

"I wasn't talking about Derek." I replied.

"Hargrove had a spy. My friends killed your friends trying to retrieve intel she stole." I explained. "Agent Conneticut. You can ask Pierce if you don't believe me." I choose not to kill her because I knew if she was able to find anything that convinced the Director to send Tex after her, I was on the wrong team. "I knew the Director was fucked up, but just like Hargrove I had nothing but instinct to rely on. Out of misplaced loyalty, I waited. And by waiting, we both killed your friends."

Sharkface put away his pistol. "If your lying to me, you'll end up like the prisoners that couldn't hold on." He warned.

"I wish I was lying. I don't know why Hargrove didn't investigate, but I know I should have done something sooner." I said. I wish I had.

...

 **West's POV**

Hmm. Now Damian and Daniel look like everyone else. This might work.

"Alright, listen. You're tired of this, and so are we." Felix is on the radio again. Great. Perfect! "We have your friends, the AI being one of them." Well, we know where they are now. Thanks for talking to much, dumbass.

"If you give us Doyle, and we won't kill them." Locus is negotiating. Predictable.

"I find it hard to believe you, considering that last we saw, they got nuked." Tucker noted.

"Yes, but we made it out. If we're not dead, then we probably brought them with us." Felix replied. They're hiding the truth.

"We'll consider your agreement terms, but we will determine the location where the trade is made." I responded.

"I don't think you get it. We have your friends, and we will kill them." Felix thinks he's in charge. Ha!

"And we have the only people who can use the swords." Mass reminded.

"We have Virge. We don't need the swords. He knows how to bypass the alien tech." Felix is going into theoretical territory.

"He hasn't tried it while the AI was awake. And I'm pretty sure he's on Santa's naughty list." I noted.

"Well, it won't mean anything when he resets the sword so I can use it." Felix seems to be trying to oversell Virge's ability to hack alien tech. The swords don't reset so easily.

...

 **Virge's POV**

"How the hell are you standing here?" Felix asked. A good question.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I am insanely hard to kill." I replied.

"I want to know what escape you pulled out your ass this time." I wish I was trying to not die.

"A good magician never reveals his tricks." I replied.

"I'm pretty sure that if you and Carolina are alive, then Derek's brothers are probably out there." Felix said.

"What makes you say Derek isn't? I could have sworn I heard Derek and his brothers heriocally sacrificed themselves so you wouldn't escape." I have a plan.

"Yes, but one thing doesn't add up. If Virge is alive, why did Derek say he killed you." Felix is on point.

"I have to give you credit, you're smarter than you look." I said.

"Don't try to distract me." Felix warned.

"I made Derek think I was dead. Let him masquerade as me in space while I took another alias." This is where my time on the inside pays off. "Remember Mark the Merc?"

"Motherfucker!" Felix didn't like Mark. He was part of the original crew. He also went MIA a while back.

"Yep. That was me. And much like when I covered Derek, you never noticed." I said.

"You

...

 **Mass's POV**

"If we take advantage of this carefully, we can get them back." Doyle said. We all know this.

"But we don't have a plan of how we're going to get them back without handing you over." Kimball noted. That's what we're trying to figure out.

"Well, the mercs want Doyle dead, not alive." RHO reminded.

"We agree to kill Doyle once we get Virge. Like wiring money to an account." I explained.

"But what if they don't take the bait?" Wash asked.

"They have Hargrove yelling from behind them. If they don't compromise, they're fucked." PSI replied. True. He's been waiting too long for them to fuck this up. A Virge is much slower at activating the temples than the swords. It took years just to get one operational, and that was when they had him AND Derek.

"So we're relying on the pirates being desperate. It's risky." Kimball said.

"The desperate are willing to do anything." West quoted her cousin.

"That's what makes them dangerous." I noted. They'll do it, but when Doyle doesn't die, we will have problems. But we're the ones with element of surprise. They don't know what we have.

...

 **Virge's POV**

Locus. The last of the three mercs. "You were in the temple." Locus stated.

"Yeah. I got a front row seat to everyones nightmares." I replied. More than that. I experienced them.

"You saw what Felix is afraid of." Locus said.

"Yep. It was surprisingly similar to what you saw." Different concept, same events.

"What was it?" Locus asked. He needs me to speel it out?

"You. He fears the day you finally decide to kill him, like all your other failed partners." I answered.

"You apologized to me. Why?" Is that a question?

"Because I brought you down with me. It would have been better for all of us if that mission never happened." I replied.

Did he just? "Your friend is on the lower floor." He's letting me go.

"Maybe there's some humanity left in you." I said.

"There's something I need to do." I have no idea what's going on in his head.

I saluted him. He returned the gesture. "At ease, soldier." I said. That felt like the right thing to say. Well, I've got a lot of shit to do.


	17. The end is Nigh

**Me: And now, we are near the end the story. Bits of small interactions become important, because thrir meaning is explained.**

 **...**

West's POV

I have a plan. And as long as Virge does what I expect him to do, it's fool proof.

"Sarge, what's the status with your team?" I asked. I made a fool proof plan. Even Caboose couldn't fuck it up.

"We're all done. They won't know until it's too late." Good. Phase one is half complete.

"There's only one problem with your plan." Grif's with them. Why?! "When they find out, they're going to kill us."

"How are we going to stop them from killing Virge and Carolina?" Simmons asked.

"I think the plan is going to unfold best if no one knows the whole thing." I answered. _Including you?_ Go fuck a rock. _Do I look like Tucker to you?_

...

Mass's POV

Whatever West is planning, it better be good. "Have you ever seen West when Virge is missing." Tucker asked.

"I have several years of that particular experience." I answered. She's changed a lot since then.

"I mean, we don't exactly know her too well, but after that stuff in the desert, when she was working with the Meta, she kinda got little scary." Caboose noted. Yeah, that was the change. But I didn't see what caused it, or when or how it happened.

"She shot me. Multiple times." Donut added. _He says that like it's a normal thing friends do._ I don't think he has many friends.

"I think she knows what she's doing." I said. If she didn't, the Meta would have killed her.

"It's not that we don't trust her. It's that we don't know what the fuck is going on in her head." Tucker explained. Yeah, no one does.

"Well, if the counselor is helping the mercs, then we'll need the unpredictablity." RHO replied. Hopefully, it works out.

...

North's POV

"And your sure this plan is going to work?" Kimball asked.

"Of course. They won't know what hit them." I said.

"They aren't complete idiots." Daniel reminded. "Some of them might get a pretty good idea."

"As long as we hit them fast and hard, we'll be okay." Wash assured.

"And this'll definitely catch em off guard." Damian added. "There's no way they'll see this coming."

...

Virge's POV

The ship stopped moving, so they must be planning to use it. We're near orbit, but not quite there. But we're close enough. "Hey, Carolina." I whispered.

"Virge?" She asked. She looks like she's been contemplating something.

"How the hell did you get out?" Church asked.

"Locus let me out." I answered.

"Why the hell would he do that?" Church asked.

"Satan showed him his inner demons, and I explained them to him." I replied.

"I'm not calling him that either." Church noted. Still better than Santa.

"You could have been at the top of the leaderboards if you wanted." Carolina stated. That was random.

"True." I answered.

"Why didn't you?" She asked. Is that what she was thinking about?

"Do I ever have a reason?" I replied.

"You always have a reason." Do I? "You trusted the Director for a reason. You brought back Epsilon for a reason." Huh. "What was the reason?"

"Maybe it's because you look like your mom. Maybe it's because I didn't want you to die the same way she did. Maybe because I liked you." I gave her three guesses. "I gave up trying to rationalize my actions a long time ago. I just kept going without thinking about it."

"That's what happened to Locus. To Maine. They never changed. They just stopped thinking for themselves." Carolina explained. I never did see them differently. I saw them for their trueselves. People thought they were shadows fo their formerselves, but it's the opposite. Their trueself is what shadows them.

I let her out of the cell. "Now, let's go make some noise." I suggested. I have a plan. And as long as West is planning what I expect her to, it's fool proof.


	18. The end is Here!

**This it. This is the way this story ends.**

 **...**

North Carolina's POV

I am hoping West knows what she's doing. We're risking everything on her plan. A plan she only explained in chunks to different groups that haven't been able to discuss their roles.

"Agent West Virginia." Felix is getting formal. I assume that means he's going to talk more than usual.

"Felix, the merc with the mouth." West replied. Haha! Deapool reference!

"Don't give me a comicbook name." Felix is crazy enough to have earned one.

"It suits you." Sharkface replied.

"Trying to distance yourself from your other psycho friends?" I asked.

"You realize we could just kill your friends in an instant." Locus said. That's what I'm worried about

"And if they die, you won't have Doyle." Wash noted.

Ko"Ah, but you forget one thing." Felix aimed his DMR. "We don't need Doyle alive." Felix fired. Everyone turned to see Doyle. Except for West. She stared at sky.

When I looked at Doyle, the first thing I noticed was that his head was gone. The second thing I noticed was that it was a decapitated robot. It angrily grumbled in spanish. "Fuck you too, dos point O." West replied. I hope that wasn't the whole plan.

"Ah, but you forget one thing." I quoted. "We don't need Doyle here."

"Where is he?!" Felix thinks he's in charge here. Funny.

"Somewhere you won't find him." Wash answered.

"I made sure that none of us know where he is." West explained. "Even I don't know where he is, and I planned this whole thing!"

"You have to have an idea of where he is." Felix is trying to be sneaky.

"Nope. I had Caboose pick the location, and no one can predict stupid." West replied.

"Does your plan go further than this?" Felix asked.

"Phase two just started." West replied. What's phase two?

...

Mass's POV

"How can they not be here?" I asked. We searched the whole prison area. And the interrogation room. And everywhere else they'd keep their prisoners.

"They were here, but it looks like they were released." Simmons explained. Two cages are open.

"That doesn't make sense. If they were at the trade, Lopez would have reported." I noted. Somethings not right.

"Maybe they never had them." Grif replied. "I mean, why threaten people with hostages you have, when you can just lie about having them."

"That is a possibility." I said. This isn't right. "But how would they know they were alive? Why are these cells open?"

"But if they aren't on the ship, where would they be?" Simmons asked.

"No one said they weren't on the ship." I figured it out. "They just aren't captive. They escaped."

"So, they could be anywhere." Grif replied.

"Other teams, we think Virge and Carolina might have escaped on their own. Keep an eye out." I reported.

"Phase two just started." West reported. This was part of the plan?

...

West's POV

"As we speak, the Tartarus crew is having a conflict of what to do." I explained.

"What to do about what?" Sharkface asked.

"The hostile takeover of your ship." I answered.

"What?" Locus asked.

"It's happening as we speak." I know because I'm looking at the ship. I can see that they haven't moved against phase three. "We used the Alien armory to grab some extra firepower. One of the other teams is currently attacking your ship."

"Impossible. You couldn't have landed on the ship without us knowing." Locus said.

"Which is why we teleported them aboard." I replied. "One of the temples. It has teleportation technology. It's how no one got nuked."

"Son of a bitch." Felix said. He didn't see it coming.

...

South Carolina's POV

Virge and I stormed the bridge quickly. When we entered, the crew was distracted. "We're being attacked from inside." By who? "How'd they get past our defenses?"

"Just hold on, I got this." Virge whispered.

"Um, What's he doing?" Church asked.

"Look at your men." What the hell?

"A diversion?" I'm not completely sure.

"Now back to me." It seems to be working. "Now back to your men." At least for now. "Now back to me."

"What are you doing?" The captain asked.

"Sadly, they are not me." Virge said.

 _"_ Thank god." Church added.

"But if you knew me, you'd wish they could be like me." Virge is definitely up to something.

"That's enough!" The captain yelled.

"That thing in your hand." The captain noticed he was unarmed. He wasn't when we came in. He looked around confused.

"I have it." The conselor.

"The memes!" I get it now.

"The what?" Church asked.

"He took it while you distracted by the man you wish your men could be." Virge explained.

"The consulor had him watch old videos to keep him entertained and distract him for the Director." A bored Virge is more dangerous than any other Virge. Because that Virge is most likely to act.

"W-what're you doing?!" The captain asked.

The counselor shot the captain. "Surviving! To hell with this mission and to hell with Chorus! Get us out of here!"

"The Tartarus is likely to be destroyed soon." Virge warned. What?

"How do you know that?" Church asked.

"Price isn't the only one that knows how people think." Virge answered. "West has a plan, and destroying this ship is part of it."

...

West's POV

"And what's the rest of your brilliant plan." Felix asked.

"Now that it's just us, it's the small matter of whose side we're each on." I explained. Sharkface pointed his gun at Felix.

"Look at you. Siding with the Freelancers." Felix replied.

"I'm on my own side. I won't be exploited for anyone elses interests." Sharkface said. I knew Virge would break him free of Hargrove's leash.

"Locus, kill him." Felix ordered.

"No." That was a unexpected. I didn't think Locus would turn.

...

Daniel's POV

Now that we've damaged the weapons, this ship is not fighting. More accurately, we disabled the control interface link. Any commands won't be recieved. "We broke their legs." Kimball reported.

"We have a development." Doyle reported.

"What is it?" Kimball asked.

"The enemy has chosen to surrender." Doyle answered. That seems too easy. "They're actually leaving the ship as we speak."

"Why?" Kimball asked.

"Apparently, it's not their fight." PSI answered. "In hindsight, taking criminals and forcing them to serve was never a great plan."

"Tell PSI to take everyone off the ship!" Church yelled. I've been told yelling is a normal thing for him to do.

...

West's POV

I never expected this. Locus to turn on Felix. Beyond the fucked up soldier mentality, they were friends. They knew each other for a long time before and after we'd met. Longer than anyone else on that team.

"No more killing." Locus said.

"What are you talking about? You're a soldier, remember?!" Felix is afriad?

"Soldiers fight for a cause." Locus said. I said that!

"Don't let Virge get in your head." Felix said. He's a disappointment. "Locus, we're...partners. Survivors. We need each other." HA! GAAAAAY! "Wh-what about our orders? Our reward?! Becoming the ultimate weapon."

"Virge is why I'm here" Locus replied coldly. That question's been answered. "I'm not doing this for the reward." That was never in question. "I'm not doing because someone told me to." Huh. He's full of surprises. "I'm doing this for me." There's a cause worth fighting for.

...

RHO's POV

My turn to wait for the signal to appear so I can send a message. Awesome. "It's time." Daniel reported.

"There is nothing wrong with your screens. I am controlling this transmission." Haha! Outer-limits reference! "If you can view the files sent along this transmission, do so as soon as possible." I instructed. "They contain evidence of Malcolm Hargrove crimes on the forgotten planet Chorus."

"Make this quick and memorable." Daniel noted.

"About a month ago, the Reds and Blues, heroes of the UNSC crashed on Chorus." Images of the heroes should be playing now. "They were able to unite the armies of Chorus against their one true enemy."

"I said quick!" Daniel reminded.

"We are currently on Chorus with army of people who would love to say Hargrove pay for his crimes" I explained. "After our rescue, we will gladly give over this information, and assist in his capture in any other way we can." The planet's coordinates are being displayed along side the image of the planet. "You know where to find us. So do Malcolm Hargrove and his company, Charon."

...

"Felix, you don't have to die here." I warned.

"If I don't kill all of you, that's the end of my career." Felix said. True.

"If you die, that's the end of your story." I replied. "You can either die a villian, or live long enough to be the hero of another story." Haha! Dark Knight reference!

"Sounds like a something out of a comic book." Sharkface replied.

"There's literally no outcome where you win." Wash said. Haha! Avengers refrence! Sorta.

"You can either help us defeat Hargrove, or die fighting alone." North said.

"You actually think you can beat him?" Felix asked. "He has assets all over the galaxy. Weapons that can destroy armies."

"We have Virge." I answered. "He devestated an alien faction, blew up a planet, and survived alien prison rape." Those are a small list of his feats. "And that was before Project Freelancer EXISTED!"

"If anyone can do the impossible, it's him." North said. "And with us at his side, it's far from impossible."

"You better hope your right." Felix warned. The Staff of Charon appeared. The herald of Project Freelancer's demise. The pale horse Death rode to the battle.

"Everyone off the ship?" I asked.

"Everyone except for Virge." Carolina said.

"Why?!" I asked.

"He has a plan." Church answered. "You probably shouldn't destroy the ship for it."

"I only wanted the weapons disabled." What's he doing?!

"And I only need engine controls." The Tartarus rammed the Staff of Charon. I know exactly what he's doing. And I can't stop him.

...

Virge's POV

I made FILSS betray Hargrove. Destroyed the Tartarus to get aboard. To find all of this of this. Relics that don't belong to Hargove. The Grifshot. The gun Carolina left her father. Tex's remains after the Epsilon unit. The Epsilon unit. And Maine's original armor. Equiped with perfected armor enhancements. "You're ready for this?" I asked.

"Ready as I'll ever get." Church replied.

"This started with the two of us. It should end that way." I said. _Not this time, buddy._

...

Agent Kentucky's POV

"According to the local's that guy's ending was bullshit." Colorado noted. Maybe not.

"Or maybe he's telling a different story from a different perspective." I said.

"Meaning what?" Arizona asked.

"He knows exactly what goes on in Virge's brain." Utah answered. That's a small list of people, but I know who it is.

The guy that attacked me, D. He wasn't a worker for Charon. He wasn't Daniel. He was one of the survivors of the original team sent to Chorus. Mark Dixon. Dissapeared. Everyone thought he was dead.

Only someone that watched Virge's actions would know Dixon was alive. Only someone with an energy sword could have activated the teleportation temple. Only someone that knows him could have told that story. And I know who that person is.

I know one person Virge did kill. If that person is dead, then Virge would have died. Because that person had an energy sword.

...

UNKNOWN POV

...

"Attention true believers! And other people." He's starting off with an exaggeration of his ego. "This is Agent Virginia Project Freelancer. Some of you know me as Derek the Red." A name he stole. I'm surprised he didn't kill him. "Some of you are loyal fans. Some of you don't believe I exist." But most of them know his name. "And some of you hate me. Which is understandable considering what I've done." He's paraphrasing the message he sent to Charon. "And what I'm about to do." Virge destroyed the remains moon of Chorus with a remotely guided shot. What wasn't destroyed fell to Chorus. "I just blew up a moon. This is an example of the power of my most dangerous weapon. The HMROV. Or Hammer of Virge, as I call it. I just regained control of it and tested if it still works. And I am just getting started." Virge is taking the Staff of Charon into space. "Any interference with my attempt to leave Chorus will result in it's destruction. Have a nice day!" Virge just started the beginning of the end.


End file.
